A Certain Destined Introduction
by Cun
Summary: Kuroko starts at Tokiwadai and meets a certain someone – but their relationship isn't all flowery in the beginning. Also there's a lot of work to do at Judgment, though with a new member hopefully joining; and what's up with the invisible purse thief?
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

I'll try not to drag this out, but I do have some things to say.

Firstly, this story is looong; 160 pages in Word. That means, if you print it out on A5 format paper (as most books are printed on) you'd have a book of 320 pages. It's a book! A friggin' book!

Secondly, I've noticed that when I recieve little or no reviews on a chapter, I don't really hurry up with adding the next, and sometimes I even forget (when a new review pops into my email it's like "oh right! Someone is actually reading this!"). So if you care about speed of uploading, your review might contribute ^_^ Though no worries; I will still update even if there's no reviews... someday...

Thirdly, this thing is written mainly in Kuroko's point of view. So if you are a Kuroko fan, rejoice! And if you hate her, I suggest you don't read.

So what's up with this story?

I was re-watching Railgun for the umpteenth time, and when I reached episode 5 (the one where Uiharu and Kuroko are training for Judgment) I found myself wondering… how the heck did Kuroko go from _that_ – in particular the part where she speaks of the students of Tokiwadai as haughty, arrogant, sheltered snobs – to what she is today?

And this is my interpretation of that.

Disclaimer: The copyrights to this thing don't belong to me…

* * *

**A Certain Destined Introduction **by Cun

**Chapter 1: First Impressions  
**

The long-sleeved shirt was slightly itchy.

The red ribbon around her neck was just a bit tight.

The light brown jacket was hot in the warm spring weather.

The blue checkered skirt was a bit too short for comfort.

Still –

"I am here!" Hands on her hips, the girl with reddish-brown hair in long twin pigtails declared her existence proudly. Also known as Shirai Kuroko, this girl was not trying to be deeply philosophical or pompously arrogant with her rather obvious statement, it was more like the truth of her current predicament needed to be reaffirmed: In front of her was Tokiwadai – the school's red, glistening brick walls and huge decorated windows seemingly towering over the anxious first-years.

The girls that were gathered in the school yard were throwing looks in all directions and soaking in the sight of the bronze school gates, the beautifully trimmed bushes and trees, the fountain in the middle of the open space, the beautifully layered bricks on the ground with not even a speck of dirt, and the grey stone steps leading up to a pair of double oak doors, majestically inviting its students and visitors in.

Yes, it was the fact that she was standing here in front of this elite school, amongst the top 3 of Academy City's all-girl's schools, that made such an utterance seem fitting for this girl known as Shirai Kuroko.

It was early April, and the new school year started for all of Academy City's students with the advance into the next grade. For the girls currently standing outside the renown all girl's school, it also meant stepping up to the next level in the education system; promoted from elementary students to middle schoolers. Choosing what school you would spend the next three years of your life in is a major decision; however none could doubt it was the right choice if they were granted entrance to this particular school. With less than 200 students total and with a minimum requirement of a level 3 ability, the school of Tokiwadai was so strict in its admittance of students it had even once refused an imperial daughter.

Although the school did not choose its students based on their fortunes and riches, but rather on skill and intelligence, it was still an expensive school and so it was rumored as the elite school of rich girls. The school was proud of its close co-operation with the research society, and many students from Tokiwadai later got important jobs in their field of study; though to succeed in this place, not only did you have to study hard, but you'd need to be socially smart as well. With so many noble girls divided into different factions, treading lightly could never be underestimated.

The girl with the twin pigtails gazed at the building before her as if she had to prove herself to the silent mass of brick and wood. _And I will! I'll show the world and any non-believers: Shirai Kuroko belongs in a place like this!_

XXX

"Entering our school is regarded a great honor," the principal's voice reverberated throughout the whole indoor gymnasium, where all the students of Tokiwadai were sitting in comfortable chairs during the traditional opening ceremony. The principal was a big man, shoulder-length, wavy hair and unkempt beard quite the contrast to his expensive businessman suit.

"The private school of Tokiwadai is ranked at the very top of the five elite girl's schools in Academy City, and thus is also one of the most sought-after for all young girls." The man continued in his booming voice. "However, we only accept those whose ability ranks level three and up, and our entrance exams are amongst the strictest. With you sitting here, it means you've succeeded and have a glorious future ahead of you. It is with much pride I welcome you all to a new year within these walls!" The man opened his arms towards them, as if embracing them all.

Elegant applause filled the gym; Kuroko joined in like a robot, busily scanning the audience. Everywhere she looked, there were girls seeming like princesses who had never set foot in the outside world, more used to confer with their maids and stewards than with those of their own age. Most likely, many of them came from some private rich girl elementary school, and had never seen anything else than their study books and walk-in closets in their life. _Sheltered, pompous snobs. _Her opinion of them was already quite biased, though if you asked the girl herself, Kuroko would most likely answer that with a mere huff.

The principal continued: "Amongst our facilities is a private pool and tennis court; also, there are several services available to you outside school. Your homeroom teachers will explain to you in detail about these as well as our various rules; I'm sure you have already familiarized yourselves with many of them. And now – please welcome last year's student council president; Asanuma Reiko!"

This time the applause was much livelier, and some girls were even squealing in joy. Kuroko watched with a somber expression as an older girl entered the stage; marvelous black hair falling around her shoulders and chin held high in arrogant pride, like the star of a shampoo commercial.

The student council president, eh? That meant she was at the very top of the hierarchy, even above the most powerful factions in school; the student council was more like a state power than a mere council here, at least as far as Kuroko had understood when investigating the place before admitting.

When Asanuma Reiko turned towards the audience, several gasps of the near-fainting category rang throughout the gym.

"As we enter this new year, we seniors must welcome our first-years like we ourselves were welcomed when we first entered this school," the girl started, her voice a pleasant touch of gentleness, and her kind smile quite enthralling as she gazed upon her fellow students. The effect was hardly surprising; breathless gasps, pink cheeks and glittering eyes everywhere.

"Waaah, I wouldn't mind being held in Asanuma-san's arms for an evening!" Someone squealed.

The third-year, as if blind to the effects her presence had on the crowd, continued: "And like tender buds, we must nurture them with our words and share of our wisdom so as to help them grow into the beautiful flowers they are destined to become…"

XXX

_That could have lasted two hours less. _Kuroko sighed deeply.

After the ceremony ended and the second- and third-years left the hall, the first-years was divided into four different classes with 15 to 20 students in each; Kuroko ended up in class A together with a couple of girls she'd barely greeted earlier.

One of the girls smiled shyly as she greeted her. "Shirai Kuroko-san, right?" She had brown, wavy hair that reached her ears, and seemed just a tiny less uncomfortable in the short skirt than her longhaired classmate.

"Hai, that's right." Kuroko confirmed.

"My name is Awatsuki Maaya, and this is Wannai Kinuho," she gestured to the girl beside her, one sporting long, dark hair looking relatively dull in comparison to the student council president's, and a matching shy look like that of her friend. "I hope we'll do well in each other's company." Awatsuki-san smiled.

"Pleased to meet you." Kuroko felt no enthusiasm whatsoever.

"That Asanuma Reiko was really amazing, wasn't she?" The other continued, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "So beautiful! I wonder if she'll run for student council president this year too?"

Kuroko didn't really care, but she couldn't imagine that pompous third-year doing anything else; she'd seemed quite comfortable up there in the spotlight.

They left the gymnasium with the rest of their class, and the two girls walked side-by-side with Kuroko down the hall.

"Aah, but to think we're finally middle schoolers." Wannai-san said, sounding almost worried. "I feel like I need to grow up really fast all of a sudden."

"I know, when I saw all those upperclassmen I was really worried." Awatsuki-san said, sounding equally worried, but she was still smiling. "They all seemed so mature and dignified."

They passed a group of upperclassmen on their way down the hall, and Kuroko noticed the figure of a green Gekota mascot dangling from one of the school bags, and giggled silently to herself.

XXX

The day seemed to grow longer and longer as she sat in the classroom and listened to their teacher; he introduced himself as Hiraga Takahiro, but would soon be known as only Hiraga-sensei to the girls in his class.

Hiraga-sensei told them how their luggage and personal belongings had already been transported to their designated dorm (Kuroko had specifically asked for the dorm outside the Garden of Education, as she couldn't stand the thought of being stuck in that snobbish town all day long), and then they were each given the trademark Tokiwadai school bag; a small, black leather suitcase, accompanied by clear instructions that this was the only school bag regulated for use. Though it may look like any regular school bag, this one (according to their teacher) was designed by an award-winning artist, and was made from only the most exclusive materials available.

He also spent an entire hour going over different rules of the school: Always wear your uniform, obey your dorm mistress, never bring disgrace upon your school (and the list of what that included was as long as the constitution), and treat your teachers and fellow students with respect, amongst them.

At the end of the day, it seemed like this place was full of rules and restrictions, as well as a whole lot of fine ladies-to-be. Kuroko looked out the window to her left with her cheek resting on one hand, sighing to herself. How had she ended up here again?

XXX

Uiharu Kazari gave a deep sigh of relief. And it was with good reason too: She'd officially survived her first day at Sakugawa middle school.

She'd reached the school on time without getting lost, managed to introduce herself to the class without stumbling too much in her words, and had even talked a bit with some of the other girls in her class. After having dreaded this day for well over a week, she had to admit it had gone fairly well. Her spot in the classroom was okay, if not perfect; almost at the back, and one row away from the windows. The homeroom teacher seemed likeable, and the dark blue, long-sleeved sailor uniform was lovely; it made her feel truly like a middle school student. She felt lighter than she'd imagined while standing outside the main entrance, backpack on her shoulders, ready to head towards the iron gates and the street outside.

"I wonder what I'll have for dinner today…" She hummed, checking her cell phone.

That's when the wind was suddenly acting very intrusive, or rather, was invited in under her skirt.

She realized why just as a voice commented: "Ooh, blue and white stripes. How nostalgic!"

Face growing beet red, she clamped her flying skirt with a screech, pulling it back down.

"Heya!" Stepping out in front of her was a smiling girl, a bit taller than herself and with long, black hair adorned by a single white flowery hairclip on the left side. From her shoulder dangled what looked like a blue gym bag.

No doubt this was the culprit of Kazari's current predicament.

"W-what are you doing all of a sudden?" Kazari shrieked, glaring at the girl furiously and embarrassed all at once. There were boys around them! She wished she could turn invisible.

"Aa-ah, I figured the best way to introduce oneself is by breaking the ice," the girl rubbed her neck with a silly grin. "Besides, I wanted to check that you were wearing your underwear properly."

"Why do _you_ need to check that?" Kazari screeched. "And even if you _are_ worried, couldn't you just _ask_?"

"Haah, but you know, girls like you tend to live in their own world, and forget important stuff like that." The girl said, totally ignoring the pursed lips and puffed cheeks in front of her. "Say," she continued, face sober as she looked at the flowery headband on top of Kazari's short, fluffy dark hair, "What's up with that? Do the flowers grow out of your head or something?"

Kazari instantly grabbed at her headband; "Of course not!"

"That'd be awesome, though." The longhaired girl grinned anew. Then she bowed slightly and announced: "My name is Saten Ruiko! You probably noticed, but we're in the same class. Nice meeting you!"

Kazari hmph'ed, looking another way stubbornly. She couldn't help feeling grumpy after being treated like that in front of so many people.

"Naw, naw, don't be like that," Saten-san grinned. "We girls need to keep together, you know? Flower power and all that!"

"That's not funny!" Kazari said, but she turned towards the girl all the same, cheeks puffed. Letting out a stubborn sigh, she eventually relented, and bowed as well. "Uiharu Kazari. It's nice meeting you." Uiharu Kazari was the kind of girl that was too nice for her own good sometimes.

"Aaah, you see? Breaking the ice sure is a good way to make friends!" The girl laughed and slapped her shoulder, and Kazari huffed again. "Now let's go celebrate our youth with some ice cream!"

XXX

Kuroko and the other girls of her dorm received a lengthy lecture from their rather scary-looking dorm mistress about the various rules of their new living quarters. The curfew time of 9 pm, pets forbidden, no use of powers within the dorm, and the no boys rule all seemed like things the dorm mistress expected them to take for granted.

She then informed them that if you broke any dorm rules, both you and your roommate would be deducted a point (making Kuroko wonder how many points they started out with, though she didn't dare ask), and for every three points deducted, they would both be put in detention. The aspect of having a shared punishment system was ridiculous in Kuroko's eyes, but she couldn't exactly do anything about it. Hopefully, she and her roommate could get along well.

Her hope was soon demolished, however. Though the room was nice, with two huge beds, two bookshelves, two desks and one shared bathroom, her first impression of the room was her rather sour companion. Her roommate was a girl from her class; though Tokiwadai did not particularly match classmates, it was inevitable to happen sometimes. The girl had black, straight hair reaching almost to her shoulders, and a permanent frown on her face.

"Shirai Kuroko. Pleased to meet you." Kuroko said, bowing her head slightly.

The girl sniffed arrogantly. "So you're the one who's going to disturb my studying this year."

Kuroko stared at her. "Haah?" She could recognize a sour tone of voice when slapped in her face so obviously, but she didn't understand the reason quite yet.

"I'll have you know I always go to bed by nine o'clock, and I expect you to follow my example. I'd like to use the bathroom first in the morning, and my bed is the one on the right. I don't like sleeping with the curtains closed, so you'll have to adjust."

Kuroko blinked, hardly believing her ears. Was she joking? But looking at that arrogant face, she realized this girl was being totally serious. Her heart fell. "Um… what was your name…?"

"You don't even remember the names of your own classmates?" The girl sighed overbearingly. "Really, this is going to be one long school year…"

Kuroko hmph'ed, but didn't have time to think of a comeback before the girl continued: "I am Sumone Nelly. Please keep that in mind."

"Gh…" she bit back the insult growing on her tongue; she'd have to survive sharing a room with this girl, after all. _It's going to be a long year indeed. _

XXX

"Ooh, so you went to Sakura elementary in second district?" Saten-san said, eagerly spinning the straw around in her soda drink.

"Yes…" Kazari said, red-cheeked and very aware of the fact that she was sitting at a public café with the weirdest person she'd ever met. When the other girl had asked, she hadn't managed to refuse, and was dragged here before she could anyway. At least she hadn't flipped her skirt again.

"That's a very nice school, isn't it?" Saten-san said, grinning from ear to ear. "A friend of my friend's friend went there, apparently."

"…" Kazari sipped her soda silently.

"I went to Kasoku elementary," the longhaired girl continued, as if she didn't even notice the lack of an answer. "It was _really_ boring!" Saying that with a smile somehow removed the need to feel sympathy. Then her voice turned solemn. "Still, it kind of sucks entering a new class with none of your old classmates."

Kazari brought her glass down. "Why did you come to Sakugawa, Saten-san?"

Saten-san looked up at her in surprise, as if she hadn't expected her to say anything. Then she smiled again. "Ah, you know, everyone says this and that school is the best and so on, and I figured 'what the heck' and just tried for everyone I could. Sakugawa was the first to accept me, so I didn't bother thinking so hard about it. How about you, Uiharu?"

Kazari gazed down into her soda, feeling her stomach knit. "I was going to come here with my best friend."

"Really?" Saten-san exclaimed. "Is she in our class? You should have invited her as well!" She looked around the café, as if she might be standing in a corner. Kazari's grip tightened around her glass.

"No, she… she ended up going to a school in district nine instead."

Saten-san's gaze fell back to her, and she hmm'ed, for once sporting a solemn expression. Kazari glared at the glass in her hand, waiting for the question; _Why?_

"That sucks." The other girl said. Kazari looked up in surprise. Saten-san was looking out the window, hands behind her head. "But, I mean, that's not much of a friend either way, if she chooses another district over her best friend."

She noticed Kazari's astonished gaze and looked back at her. "What?"

Kazari hurriedly looked down into her soda. "No, nothing…" But her chest felt better; lighter, somehow, and her lips turned upwards into a gentle smile.

Saten-san grinned again. "No worries; _I'll_ be your friend from now on, neh?"

"Mhm." She smiled.

XXX

"Really, that school is weird through and through!" Kuroko was sitting at her desk at Judgment 177th branch; safely out of danger from her roommate or anyone else hearing her complain. The temperature outside was moderate, and her jacket was hanging over the chair; at least she'd take _that_ off whenever she could. With the strict rules of always to be wearing their school uniforms, she'd have to get used to it, though. However, that was the least of her worries.

"You wouldn't think the other girls in the class are my age; they act like they are eighty!" She spat. "And my roommate – you would do well to find another like her in the whole of Japan, if not the whole world."

Konori Mii, the disgruntled girl's senior, looked up from her computer screen and smiled. "Are you sure you're not just nervous?"

Kuroko puffed her cheeks out stubbornly. "What a ridiculous conception."

"Still, I was sure you wouldn't have time to drop by today. Don't you have a lot of things to pack out and organize?"

"Things like that takes no time with my ability." She said confidently. She'd teleported her goods into place when Sumone-san went to the bathroom, not wanting a deduction point on her very first day for misusing her powers inside the dorm.

"Ah, I guess that's true…" Konori-senpai continued to smile. "Then, why did you choose to go to such a weird school? It's not too late to change you know; some schools are still accepting new entries."

"I will not! I have chosen this school because of its unrivaled study program, every single graduate who continue on to similar high school programs is ensured a high quality job."

"Aren't you quite wealthy already to afford attending there?" The older girl asked.

"Honestly, why do people only think about money?" Kuroko sighed deeply. "Unlike you, I do not think of the profit when doing my choices in life."

"Oh, that's harsh." Konori said, and chuckled. "Still, I've heard a lot of good things about that school. Apparently they have a really good student society, and their dorms are absolutely fantastic! I'm sure you'll have a great time there once you get to know your classmates a bit better." She gave a light-hearted sigh.

Kuroko glanced at her senior with a small smirk. "Did I just hear your equivalent of a squeal, Konori-senpai?"

Konori spluttered, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Of course not! Get to work, Shirai!"

Kuroko looked back at her computer screen, and sighed again. "Well, perhaps I ought to give it a chance before I judge it too harshly." She muttered. Though she doubted anything could make her think otherwise of the school and its pupils. Being indecisive or unsure of her own opinions was not the kind of person Shirai Kuroko was.

* * *

End note:

Asanuma Reiko's name. Asanuma: Shallow, superficial. Reiko: 麗子 "lovely child."

Also, if you're not familiar with honorifics (-chan, -san, -senpai etc) I suggest you try Wikipediaing "Japanese honorifics" ;)

Oh, and this story is not beta-read at all. If you find any mistakes, please point them out!

PS: If you for some reason are confused about the names, I'm writing them using the Japanese order; meaning, last name comes first, given name comes after.


	2. Chapter 2: Back Alley Delinquent

**Chapter 2: Back Alley Delinquent**

The days following the start of term turned out to be quite stressful between Judgment work and school. Kuroko was determinedly working through it all, even if her new position at Judgment 177th branch was giving her a lot more work to do than she was used to. Now that she had finally entered middle school, Konori-senpai allowed her to go on patrols alone, in addition to the usual menial tasks. When thinking of all the adventures waiting for her, like catching shoplifters in the action, hunting down muggers in the dark back alleys, and punish the criminals like a _real_ member of justice, she managed to gather some energy reserves to deal with school.

Also, when any other student complained that school was tiresome, they usually meant the classes and the homework. But Kuroko was little troubled by those (in fact they were less of a problem than she had anticipated); in her case it was the school itself. The gossip already flourishing about their upperclassmen and all their wonderful qualities was disturbing in itself, but that was the least mind-boggling thing about Tokiwadai.

There was this thing called 'factions'. The factions seemed to be a sort of gathering for students with different abilities. When she read about it, she'd figured they were kind of like advanced study groups. However after experiencing the school for herself, she'd realized there was more to it than that.

For example, you might want to be careful of whom you say what to; those belonging to a specific faction might react differently to an opinion. It was not like those of a specific faction walked around wearing badges on their chests either, so you wouldn't know unless they told you.

Apparently every student was capable of joining a faction as long as they met the pre-requisites, and in that regard, they were like the more common study groups. However once you joined one faction, you could risk being blacklisted by another; it was as if there was some kind of silent war going on in the shadows of the elite school.

Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san had had the first-hand experience of this when they joined the swimming club; they told Kuroko how they had almost immediately been offered to join at least three different factions, though they had, as far as she knew, declined them all for now. It was quite overwhelming for a new student to be barraged by requests like that – some might find it refreshing or see big opportunities in joining a faction, but many found it a bit confusing and intimidating, asking their friends and classmates for advice.

Kuroko had not been offered to join a faction. She had not even joined a club yet – as the only teleporter in Tokiwadai there was no club suited for her development, and she saw no reason to gossip and gobble with narcissistic princesses, or become involved in that faction soup for that matter. Besides, she had enough work to do with her Judgment duties. Tracing down criminals and arresting them in order to keep peace in Academy City was more important than any rendezvous with sheltered pipsqueaks. Those were the kind of things she'd dreamt of doing when she first joined Judgment, and now she finally had the position to do so.

_So then why…_ Her eyebrow twitched as she gazed upon the trash and litter on the pavement in front of her, _…why am I here? _Sweeping the sidewalk outside a convenience store was hardly the level of heroism or glory she'd been looking forward to.

_I guess we still need to do these kinds of things, after all_. She sighed and made a half-hearted sweep with the broom in her hands. Honestly, you'd think grown people would at least _try_ to put their refuse in the trash bins. Not even the cleaning bots could keep up with this neglect of community health. If only people could take care of their business, busy folk like Kuroko could have used their time for better things. How many people would have to suffer today because some morons could not comprehend the act of depositing their own trash in a trash can? And why did _she _have to do it for them?

Kuroko glared at the trash with a fuming face, as if trying to scare it away. _If I see anyone dropping as much as a chewing gum paper I'll teleport it right up his – _

"Shirai-san!" A happy voice disturbed her out of her brooding thoughts, and she looked up. A girl was jogging towards her with a bright smile on her face. Uiharu Kazari, the one she'd met during Judgment practice in second district, not to mention her first disastrous case in that post office – she scowled at the memory.

The girl with a flowery headband in her hair waved excitedly as she approached, though hesitated slightly at the look Kuroko was sporting.

"Eh… Shirai-san? It's me, Uiharu." Her face suddenly turned long and dreadful. "You've forgotten me!"

Kuroko sighed and turned fully towards her, broom held in one hand. "No, I was just thinking. It's nice seeing you again, Uiharu-san."

The girl wasn't even listening; her eyes were big, her mouth agape, and glitters seemed to sparkle in the air around her as she stared at Kuroko.

"What?" Kuroko felt uneasy again with the shortness of her skirt and the breeze around her naked thighs.

"That's the Tokiwadai uniform, isn't it?" The other girl squealed. "It _is_, isn't it!"

A mix of emotions rampaged through Kuroko; in the end, she ended up with a defeated sigh. "Hai…" The pride of having been accepted into the prestigious school of Tokiwadai was still present in her mind, but was at the moment overshadowed by her experiences since.

"Aaaaah!" The flowery girl exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "It's so stylish! So fashionable! So elegant!" Her eyes were beaming with such a radiance Kuroko had to fight the instinct to shadow her face. "The school of elite girls! Aaah, how I envy you! The school where they teach you how to attain the aura of a proud woman!"

Kuroko sweat-dropped, but before she could say anything, Uiharu went on intently: "And they teach you how to sip a tea-cup elegantly and arrange napkins on a table for twelve dinner guests! And in gym class you even learn how to trip with dignity and faint like a beautiful lady! Right?" Her query suddenly aimed right at Kuroko.

"Err… I guess those are the rumors…" She could not find it in herself to destroy the girl's happy illusion by telling her they practiced martial arts and studied world economics rather than the things she imagined.

"Then, are you a real lady now, Shirai-san?" Uiharu squealed, apparently not even noticing the lack of proper answers.

Kuroko bristled. "I have always been a real lady! I don't need a school full of snobbish –"

"Ah! The ojou-samas; have you seen the ojou-samas?"

Kuroko faltered. "Ojou…samas?"

"Hai!" Kazari nodded fiercely. "The kind of girls that radiate elegance ten blocks away! The delicate, beautiful kind of ojou-samas that makes you go 'Onee-sama!' and dance around them!"

"Err, I don't know what kind of images you have, but…" she briefly imagined the student council president, and shook her head. "There are mostly rich, snobbish girls with too much pride to fit in the Atlantic ocean, and that's only the upperclassmen. The first-years are hardly better, though a bit more subdued due to their shyness."

"Shy rich girls!" Kazari exclaimed, looking even dreamier than before. "How I envy you, Shirai-san!"

Kuroko sighed again; she could picture a lot of different things more worthy of being envied. "How about you, Uiharu-san?" She asked, just to change the subject. "How is your new school? Eh… which one was it again?" She honestly could not remember if the girl had even told her the last time they met, and she didn't recognize the uniform she was wearing.

"It's Sakugawa middle school." Kazari smiled and put her arms out, as if showing off the dark blue uniform. Then she suddenly turned serious. "It's a very nice school with very nice students and very nice teachers!"

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself…"

"And I met this totally weird girl who is now my friend, or so she says!"

"Eh…" Kuroko scratched her cheek, "that's good, I guess…?" She tried for a smile, just in case.

Kazari nodded forcefully, lips pursed. "However she flips up my skirt almost every day!"

"Really…"

"Actually, I'm going to meet with her now! I was just going to buy some Yan Yan here first." Suddenly, her whole demeanor brightened. "Would you come with us, Shirai-san?"

Kuroko sweat-dropped; for some reason, she had a feeling the other girl just wanted to show off the Tokiwadai uniform to her apparently weird friend.

"Sorry, I have to clean up this place…" She sighed and eyed the trash on the ground, swearing it'd multiplied during the last few minutes. _Why do I have to clean the whole place myself? Really, we ought to recruit some more… _"Oh –" she remembered, "the Judgment tests are coming up soon." She looked back at Uiharu. "Are you going to take it?"

"Of course!" Kazari nodded with a bright smile. "We promised, didn't we? That we'd become pro Judgment officers together!"

"Oh, that's right…" The memory of that disastrous case during which the promise was made was best left untouched, if she'd choose.

"I have been practicing this whole winter! I hope we can be working together, Shirai-san!"

"Yes, indeed." She actually looked forward to it; working with someone her own age wouldn't be so bad. Besides… she smirked. _I could boss her around!_

Her evil chuckle made Kazari sweat-drop.

"Anyway, I'll see you around, Shirai-san!" The flowery girl waved, and then entered the store with a small skip in her steps. Kuroko looked after her with a small smile. She liked Uiharu; she was friendly and easy-going and brought a good mood into her surroundings. Though her sudden mood swings and obsession with rich girls was a bit unsettling.

"Hmf." Making a sound like a small chuckle, she started sweeping the trash again. If only there were some easy-going girls in her own class as well. Her roommate aside, Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san was friendly enough, but oh so boring. If not for their difference in height and hair color, they might as well have been twins; both were shy, silent and agreeable to everything.

She sighed deeply, and was interrupted once again in her brooding, this time by the ringing of her cell. She dug her hand into her skirt pocket and almost missed the tiny phone; it'd been a present from her parents when she started Tokiwadai, and was so small one could barely hold it in a hand. Though it was of the latest technology, it seemed too bothersome to use as a primary phone.

She pushed the button and put it to her ear. "Yes?"

"Shirai-san, are you still outside the convenience store on second street?" Konori-senpai's voice trickled into her ear.

"Um, hai." She sweat-dropped, wondering if she was taking too long.

"Good. I need you to step into a case for me; I have some important things to do that I just can't leave for later, but it's a bit of an emergency."

"What is it?" Kuroko managed to grip her tiny phone with both hands somehow, leaving the broom to fall ungraciously to the ground.

"Someone reported a gang of boys being awfully rude and threatening against a middle school girl near your location. I need you to go check it out."

"Just tell me the spot!"

"Hey now, don't go overboard with excitement!"

XXX

Kuroko ran, puffing for breath, and swore to herself. Had she known the alleys around here better, she'd just teleported to her destination, but she didn't want to risk ending up inside a wall or dumpster. This was her first real job on her own, and she wouldn't screw up no matter what.

_Locate, secure, report._ The three steps of procedure were crowing in her head like a mantra. After arriving at Konori-senpai's designated spot, she'd met up with a slightly disturbed girl who told her how she'd just been robbed of her handbag, and the culprits had escaped into these alleys. Determinedly, Kuroko took up the chase. She gritted her teeth and kept moving, knowing that they couldn't have come far.

She turned another corner, and then halted abruptly, backtracking her steps a bit just to make sure she hadn't imagined it. She hadn't. There was a high school student lying in a heap near the wall; it was just a coincidence she had even noticed him there. He was obviously knocked out cold, face sporting a stupid expression and mouth wide open as he stared emptily at the sky. His clothes were scorched and burnt in places. In any other setting, he could've been mistaken for a homeless bum completely knocked out by his alcohol or drugs.

_That's one of five._ Kuroko thought, frowning. _But how did he end up like this? Did they get into a fight over the handbag? In any case, this is definitively esper work._ Judging by his clothes, his opponent had been a pyrokinetic, and possibly a powerful one. In that case, Kuroko would have to exert her skills to the fullest. She couldn't hide the smile that appeared on her face as she found and photographed his student ID with her cell phone, in case he woke up before she returned and decided to scram. Then she continued onwards down the alley, and she soon reached a T-junction, where she stopped and looked around.

Just to her left, another guy was slouched on the ground like a sack. He carried similar wounds as his companion, and his face seemed totally relaxed where he lay drooling on the ground. Kuroko's frown deepened. She searched his pockets and found his wallet; pulling out his student ID and snapping a shot of it, she then continued on, already seeing the next heap of a body a few meters ahead. _What is this…?_

_CRAKKA_; there was an amazing sound up ahead, like a thunderclap splitting the sky. Startled, she looked up and then kicked off at a speed even Wilma Rudolph would have envied. Ignoring the remaining guys on the ground, she slid around the next corner, and upon seeing the scene in front of her, her eyes widened.

The fifth and last guy was sprawled on the ground, twitching and groaning and smoke steaming from his blackened clothes. By his feet, looking down at him with an almost pitiful expression on her face, stood a girl. A girl wearing the same Tokiwadai uniform as Kuroko, one hand scratching her temple while the other carried her black school bag. She had shoulder length, light brown hair adorned by a plain white hair clip on the right side, and was a head taller than Kuroko; an upperclassman, no doubt. Just as she watched in astonishment, the girl sighed, and then looked up at her.

"Hmm?" Her face sported a bored look, as if she had done nothing more than weed her garden; brown eyes looked Kuroko up and down, and quickly noticed her green armband. "Oh, Judgment. And from Tokiwadai, nonetheless. I guess late is better than never, or whatever they say." The girl sighed again, shifting her weight slightly. She was pretty on a down-to-earth level; elegant, yet refreshingly normal, probably popular with guys who liked the type that could be labeled as a "natural beauty"; no make-up or jewelry needed.

Though she did lack any mentionable bust.

"You must be second-year." Kuroko said, staring right at the area in question.

"Wha – what the hell?" The other girl exclaimed, clamping an arm over her chest and growing red-faced. "Where the heck are you looking? Don't just walk up to people and insult them, you moron!"

Kuroko watched her stolidly, noticing the lack of any fine mannerisms. The fact that she was in this alley, and had obviously knocked five boys out cold single-handedly, and spoke with words hardly befitting of an _ojou-sama_, Kuroko could only conclude one thing: _She must be a delinquent._ So even Tokiwadai had those, huh?

She sighed. Straightening up and putting her hands on her hips, she looked at the guy lying on the ground. "So, this carnage was your doing then, I take it?" Leaving a trail of bodies like that, it seemed like the plot in a badly written crime novel. Did she lure them into fighting her one on one in order to not be overwhelmed? Such low tactics, yet, obviously efficient. For most espers, taking on five people at once would be too much even if they were all level zero's; singling them out was a good way of approaching it. Though to allow her to do such a thing in the first place was quite stupid of the boys. Had they no sense of tactics at all?

All this went through Kuroko's head without her making even the smallest change in her expression.

"Jeez, you sure are right to the point," the girl muttered, still somewhat pink-cheeked. She looked at the guy once more. "This girl out there suddenly screamed someone had stolen her bag, and I followed them in here. They seemed unwilling to cooperate though, even when I tried to talk. So I opted for scaring them a bit, but that just made them run even harder." She sighed, as if troubled by such childish behavior.

"You do know upholding the peace in Academy City is the job of Judgment and Anti-Skill, right?" Kuroko said, deadpan. "If civilians were to go around taking the law in their own hands, we would have total anarchism here."

"Really?" As if she'd never thought of that before. "How come you guys are never around when anything happens, then?"

Kuroko clenched her teeth; _I was cleaning the trash of irresponsible citizens!_ "I only took a couple of minutes!"

"Well, see what happened?" The girl huffed. "Because you took so long, I had to take care of it myself. Seriously, even those sophisticated security robots are just rolling around for fun, it seems." She sighed overbearingly. "I figured they'd just give me the bag if I asked them nicely, but seems that was just as efficient as using elemental sodium to wash out your hair. And it turned out they didn't even have it. Not even this guy." She pointed a thumb at the heap on the ground without even offering him a glance.

_Such arrogance!_ Kuroko scowled. She was talking like this was an everyday occurrence; really, who did she think she was? Taking the law into her own hands, knocking students out cold without a second thought… possibly she was the type of girl to actively seek out the wrong kinds of people and the wrong kinds of situations just for the thrill of it. Many delinquents reveled at a chance of "testing" their abilities in real life situations. Perhaps it acted as some sort of ego boost for those who didn't truly believe in themselves.

"Goodness," she muttered, "I thought Tokiwadai knew better than to let your sort into the school…"

"What?" The girl looked at her again, bored expression back in place.

"No, nothing." Kuroko sighed deeply. Whatever predicament this girl might be having, it was none of her concern. She'd just focus on doing her job for now. "I'll need your name and class, then I'll clean up here."

"Just as long as you remember I was the victim here." The girl said, stroking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Misaka Mikoto, class 2A."

_You say 'victim', but..._ Kuroko noted the information down on her cell phone with an unimpressed expression, and shot the guy a brief look; _…there's no denying _they _are the _real _victims here._

The girl was still watching her, almost expectantly. Perhaps she was hoping Kuroko would make some sort of comment, though for what reason would be anyone's guess. It did feel like something tickled in the back of her mind, as if she'd heard the name before; but thanks to her gossiping classmates she'd probably heard _all_ the names of the upperclassmen at some point.

Kuroko met her gaze squarely. "That is all. You can go now, though you shouldn't be surprised if your teacher wants to have a word with you tomorrow."

The girl watched her for a few more seconds, then turned and slung her school bag over her shoulder; Kuroko noticed the green frog dangling from it, and her eyebrows twitched. _Seriously…_

XXX

Saten-san lived in a dorm in the opposite direction of school compared to Kazari. They were both dorms managed by Sakugawa, but the standards were quite different. For one, Kazari lived in a shared room (though for the moment she was the only occupant), and Saten-san lived in a single-room. That's why they could sit on her floor and eat snacks without being afraid of disturbing anyone.

"Really, Judgment, huh?" Saten-san said, finishing the last of the Yan Yan in her box. "That means you're an ability user, right?"

Kazari reddened and stared defiantly into her own box of crackers and chocolate dip.

"Yes…"

"Oooh, then, are you really strong, like level three or four?" Saten-san asked, and before Kazari could even answer, gasped: "Or are you even level five! Can you make flowers grow from the core of Earth or something?" Her eyes were wide as saucers as she gazed at the flower-decorated headband on her head.

Kazari sweat-dropped. "There's no way I could do that. Actually…" she faltered, hesitating a bit, before breaking into a tense grin. "I'm just level one."

"Hmm…" Saten-san said, leaning back onto her hands. "That's kind of a disappointment." Kazari's heart fell. "Still, you're lucky! Having powers, even if they're only level one…" She sighed dreamily, and Kazari looked at her questioningly.

"Saten-san, you…"

"Haaai, level zero, here." She said straight-forwardly. "I guess you'll laugh at me now, neh?"

"Of course not!" Kazari spluttered, waving her hands. "I'd never laugh at you for something like that!"

"But you will for a lot of other things, neh?" The girl grinned. "No worries, I don't care about those levels or abilities at all." She released a proud breath. "I'm just content being within the walls of this city! There's a lot of people out there envying us, you know? Haha!"

"That's true…" Kazari smiled down at her box of snacks.

"So where do you work?" Saten-san asked.

"Ah, I haven't passed the Judgment test yet… it's coming up in a few weeks."

"Oh, really? I thought you just had to shoot someone to be admitted."

Kazari paled. "S-shoot?"

"You know –" She made a motion with her hands as if she was aiming a gun, "Bam! Taking down the bad guys. If possible, you should have two guns at once, though you might get obsessed with symmetry –"

"That's not how Judgment work!" Kazari squealed. "Besides, I won't be shooting anyone! Judgment works to preserve peace and quiet with the students in the city!"

"Hm…" Saten-san looked at her soberly. "How dull is that?"

XXX

"So you were unable to find the bag at all?" Konori-senpai asked, looking over at Kuroko's desk. The pigtailed girl had just returned from the ordeal with the stolen bag and the back alley delinquent, Anti-Skill haven picked up the five boys and listened to her explanation.

"Hai, it was not on any of the boys." She said. "Also, it seems they were actually only being rude to the girl; at least they claim that they didn't take the bag."

"Hm. Do you think they tell the truth?"

Kuroko sighed, leaning back into her chair. "The girl that was robbed said there were five boys; none of them actually touched her, but suddenly her bag was dragged out of her hands – the boys then ran away, and the bag is nowhere to be found. Also, we arrested all five boys." She shrugged, an exasperated expression on her face. "It makes no sense at all. If they did take it, they would need to do something like meeting up with someone who collected the bag before they were knocked down…"

"How about that girl you mentioned?"

Kuroko once again saw that arrogant face in her mind. No matter how much she disliked that air of nonchalance, she hadn't seemed like a criminal.

"That seems very unlikely." She said. "If she was indeed there to pick up the bag, there was no reason for her to knock out the boys."

"Perhaps they knew they were being chased and did it to cover up the transaction?" Konori-senpai suggested, looking over the temporary report Kuroko had written on the incident.

"But even if that was the case, there's no reason for that Tokiwadai student to still be standing there letting herself be seen." Kuroko sighed. "Besides, the bag seemed to have been too big for her to hide, even inside her own school bag."

"I guess you're right." Konori-senpai sighed, supporting her cheek on one hand. "There's nothing more for us to do here anyway, with Anti-Skill covering the case." She stared at the screen for a few more seconds, and then she frowned slightly. "That…"

"What?"

"No, nothing. I just thought… it feels like I've heard that name before… Misaka…"

Kuroko sighed deeply. "Delinquents like that tend to be involved in more than one case. Maybe you have read it in a report once."

"Hm…" Konori-senpai studied the screen intently for a few more seconds, and then sat back into her chair and sighed. "You're probably right."

* * *

Note:

You can thank "High Noon" for this chapter today. Such a simple thing as saying you like my stories and want me to update made my heart melt on the spot. Your wish iz granted!11!  
Also thanks to "Dendregal" for sharing your thoughts regularly both on this and on A Certain Railgun Fan Fic ;) It makes me feel like I'm actually writing this for someone other than myself.

The first meeting between Mikoto and Kuroko could have been written in a hundred different ways, and I'm sure this won't satisfy everyone. I went with what came naturally to me and to this setting, and also trying to keep them in character. If something totally rubs you the wrong way, I want to know! Tell me! I can't read your mind! And feel free to tell me if you happened to _like_ it as well!

Next chapter: More Kuroko!

Explanation of terms and words used this chapter:

_Yan Yan_ is a Japanese snack food. It comes in a package with two compartments. One side has biscuit sticks and the other has chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, or yogurt flavored frosting used for dipping. The sticks themselves may also be flavored. Some Yan Yan products are sold in rectangular with 9 sticks with dip. There is also a new version which includes two flavored dips.  
- Thanks to Wikipedia for this useful explanation.

_Ojou-sama_ = Young lady, usually used for those of higher status.

_Onee-sama_ = A formal way of saying "big sister". Usually not used about your _real_ big sister, rather it is used as a respectful way of adressing an older, high-class girl (as far as I figure).

_Hai_ = Yes.

_Wilma Rudolph_ was the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, in the 1960's.

_Elemental sodium _= A substance that "reacts violently with water". Basically, it kind of explodes into fire. In other words, do not use in hair.

This is turning out to be an educational corner rather than an author's note, eh? From having absolutely no explanations in my first fic, I figured I'd try to keep some kind of record of things this time around. Well, it might not even be interesting. I'm just trying to show off how much research I do for my fics, KAY? BE AMAZED!


	3. Chapter 3: Different Kinds of People

**Chapter 3: Different Kinds of People**

Before the second week of their new school life was over, gossip was drowning the first-years in Tokiwadai. Whispers, excited giggles, blushing faces – they were everywhere, all the time. The rumors were many and far-fetched, and they all regarded their upperclassmen somehow, as if they were all saints or queens. Kuroko did her best to avoid the whole thing, but she did catch on to what it was all about thanks to her classmates.

"Have you seen her?" Awatsuki-san asked at lunch one day, pink coloring her cheeks.

"Seen who?" Kuroko asked with a defeated sigh, poking her chopsticks into her food. It was probably the fifth time this week she'd been asked the same question, and every time, it was about a new 'who'.

"The Railgun." Awatsuki-san was blushing even more.

"Oh." So that was 'who' today; Tokiwadai's level five. The ultimate of self-absorbed princess celebrities – Kuroko had not even offered her a thought. Why would she? "No, I do not think I have."

"I heard she's the most kind and gentle girl in all of Academy City." Awatsuki-san said with a sigh.

"They say she's very elegant and the picturesque of a young lady." Wannai-san elaborated, as equally red-cheeked as her friend. "The unrivaled electric princess of our school!"

Kuroko snorted at the ridiculous title.

"She's a second-year this year, but there are so many seniors fitting of that description I don't know who it is." Awatsuki-san sounded like this was troubling her deeply.

_Second-year, eh? _Kuroko briefly imagined the delinquent from the back alley a few days ago, and then shook her head with a silent chuckle. What a ridiculous thought. The Railgun would never be found in a back alley with a gang of thugs; she was a self-absorbed blockhead too important to have her hands dirtied by dealing with mere common folks, being a level five, one of those who viewed themselves as the top of this city, and their attitudes reeked of it for miles.

She was about to say they would recognize her by the smell when the two girls in front of her suddenly gasped, hands clasping in front of their chests as they looked towards the cafeteria entrance.

"It's Asanuma-san!"

More gasps flourished around them as other girls spotted the idol third-year entering the room; the second-years currently acting as waitresses immediately flew over to her and led her through the throng of people to a suspiciously free table near the windows. _Reserved seat?_ Kuroko grimaced.

The arrogant former student council president sat elegantly on her chair (which was dragged out and then pushed back in by one of the second-years), and her two companions sat down opposite of her; one longhaired girl with her hair in braids and narrow eyes, looking almost Chinese in origin, and the other a tall girl with her brown hair in a ponytail. They all sported the looks of those who were exceedingly popular and knew it. Asanuma-san looked around the cafeteria haughtily; Kuroko wanted to gag.

"Asanuma-san is so pretty and mature." Awatsuki-san sighed dreamily. "She truly fits the role of student council president well."

"She does," Wannai-san agreed. "I am certain she will be elected this year as well! Ah, how I wish I dared to go speak to her."

No doubt most of the students sitting in there wished the same. Kuroko huffed. Certainly the third-year was a pleasant sight to the eye, but her arrogant smile was a turn-off indeed. Not that the stone-faced expression of the other two girls were any better.

"Who are the girls with her?" She asked, not knowing where her curiosity came from.

"The one with the ponytail is Unabara Ryoko-san; I heard she's the principal's niece." Awatsuki-san said. "The other is Fasu Niba-san. They are both on the student council."

"Hm." Kuroko watched the three girls uninterestedly, their arrogant faces burning into her irises.

XXX

_Really, this place is going to end my life_. Kuroko sighed deeply as she exited her dormitory that Friday afternoon of her second week at Tokiwadai. As usual, there was Judgment work to do; today Konori-senpai had patrol, which meant Kuroko had the joyful job of answering the phone and emails in the meantime. The last few days there'd been an overwhelming amount of menial tasks, giving them much work to do.

_And on top of that, I have to listen to _that _all day long._ The gossip and fantasizing about the famous ladies of Tokiwadai could bore even a goldfish to death. There were several ojou-samas to choose from, and the first-years were all discussing which was the better ones. In a parallel class there'd even broken out a fight over the topic. Different factions had different favorites too, and there were even those who claimed that the _other_ level five of Tokiwadai was superior to them all; 'the Queen' as they referred to her as, was the one they should truly worship. Kuroko had been surprised at learning there was another level five at their school, but she didn't really care; she was probably just as tasteless as the rest of them.

If the scenes at the school itself were not going to kill her though, the dorm mistress surely would. One night, when Kuroko had been a few minutes late for curfew due to the extra amount of work at Judgment headquarters, she'd been stopped by the strict woman; she'd tried to explain why she was late, to no avail – the dorm mistress merely lectured her about the dorm rules and then gave her a deduction point, which meant her roommate also got one, and Sumone-san was even less talkative with her from then on.

She felt like screaming, though the effort of doing so didn't match up with the gain. Instead, she picked up the sound of a small shriek further down the sidewalk.

A Tokiwadai student was kneeling on the ground beside a convenience store bag, and hurriedly trying to gather oranges and apples that had rolled everywhere. Kuroko sighed, but her Judgment instincts was firmly planted in her, and she found herself approaching the slightly desperate girl.

"Let me help you." She plopped down and started picking up the fruit in reach; the other girl looked up with a surprised face, and then smiled warmly.

"Thank you!" Her voice was so sincere, Kuroko felt her cheeks redden. The girl was blonde, her hair long and wavy, and she had small glasses on the tip of her nose. She seemed like the perfect picture of a clumsy maid figure. Just as Kuroko thought this, the girl leaned forward to pick up another orange, and in the process lost several of the apples she was already clutching to her chest. _Good grief._

"Just put the ones you already have into the bag before you try to pick up any more." She said, and the girl's cheeks pinked slightly as she giggled embarrassedly.

"My, I'm sorry you had to see this." She said, following Kuroko's advice. "I don't give a good impression to the first-years stumbling around like this, do I?"

Kuroko looked at her in wonder. "You're a senior?" Her gaze fell to her chest area, and she suddenly felt like she would never become a real woman. Luckily she was stopped from asking if they were real when the other girl smiled and said: "Hai! My name is Hitomi Aika; I'm in class 2A. I don't know if you have heard of me…"

Somehow, when she said it, it didn't sound conceited at all.

"I do not think so." Kuroko said truthfully, not bothering to explain that she wasn't paying attention to rumors and gossip about the older students. Perhaps she was one of those idols.

"Oh." She faltered a bit, but then smiled brilliantly again. "Well, the election campaign did just start the other day, and I guess not everyone pays attention to it. What is your name, by the way?"

"Ah, Shirai Kuroko," she said, realizing she'd been rude. She stuffed the last three apples into the bag, and then processed the words she'd just heard. "Election campaign?"

"Yes, the election of the new student council president." The blonde said, gathering the bag in her hands, and they both stood. "I am running for election." She smiled.

When thinking about it, Kuroko actually remembered there being an abnormal amount of posters around school the last few days; though, if memory served her right, Asanuma Reiko's face had been plastered on most of them.

"So you're competing with _her_…"

"Hai…" Apparently she didn't need a name to understand who Kuroko was referring to. "I didn't particularly plan to do it, but my teacher and friends all said I should, so…" She smiled again.

"I thought Asanuma-san was really popular." Kuroko said. She remembered seeing the third-year marching down the hallway one day, leaving a trail of bewitched girls looking after her.

"Ah, well…" Hitomi-san smiled uncertainly, "I wouldn't want to badmouth anyone, but there are students who think the job could be done bett– I mean differently!" She corrected herself quickly in a heroic way.

Kuroko hmm'ed. She'd thought all the girls in Tokiwadai was in love with the self-absorbed third-year. Apparently she'd been too quick in her assumptions.

"Well, thanks a lot for helping me, Shirai-san." The other girl smiled and bowed her head slightly. "I hope you will enjoy your stay in our school. Oh, and feel free to ask me if there's anything you need. We live in the same dorm, it seems, so maybe we will see each other around?"

She gave a small wave before heading for the dorm entrance with her bag of fruits safely clasped in front of her chest. Kuroko watched after her with a thoughtful look on her face.

So there was actually some likable students amongst the upperclassmen too. _Well, there's no way she's going to win the election with such a docile attitude._ A pity, really, since it seemed she was just the opposite of that Asanuma Reiko.

XXX

Saten-san was typing on Kazari's laptop; apparently, she'd dragged it out of her backpack while she was at the toilet.

"You could at least ask first," Kazari said and puffed her cheeks, sitting back down in her seat to finish her parfait. They were enjoying their after-school time at a café, and sitting at a café without ordering a parfait was like blasphemy. Saten-san had said it was like 'celebrating the coming of the weekend', though she ordered a chocolate cake herself.

"Sorry, I left my own at school," Saten-san grinned, rubbing her neck apologetically. "Anyway, Uiharu; look at this." She turned the laptop slightly so that Kazari could see the screen as well. On it was an internet site called _Urban legends in Academy City_, and all sorts of topics was listed down the page. 'The Hypnotizing TV-channel', 'The Roundabout With No Exits' and 'Lightning Strikes From Clear Sky' was amongst them.

"You read those kind of sites?" Kazari asked, somewhat surprised, but then again not. Saten-san seemed like just the person to be deeply indulged in rumors and stories of the incredible kind. And this being Academy City, those kinds of internet sites didn't exactly lack in abundance.

"Look at the newest one!" Saten-san seemed quite cheerful.

Kazari leaned closer. "'The Girl With No Panties'…" Her face reddened.

"That's you, Uiharu!"

"It is not!"

"Oh really, then how come you didn't let me to flip your skirt this morning?" Saten-san inquired.

Kazari turned bright red. "Of course I won't let you do that! Nobody would let you if you gave them a choice!"

"Huuuh, well, but you know, these kinds of sites sometimes have really useful information too!" The longhaired girl was apparently not bothered much by Kazari's angry glare. She reached forward to type on the laptop again, quickly navigating through the site to one of the forums. "See here!" She said. "They say there's this suspicious research group that uses Child Errors to do their experiments…"

"That's just plain conspiracy theories!" Kazari protested, eying the forum post skeptically.

"And here someone says there's been a lot of robberies lately, but Anti-Skill isn't releasing any information to the public at all!"

Kazari sighed. "Anti-Skill do that many times; there is no need to scare the citizens unnecessary."

"Woah, is that a line you learnt in Judgment training?"

"It's common sense!"

"Oh, then how about this; the orange juice at Danny's Barn taste like beer if stirred long enough!"

"Just how is that _useful information_?"

XXX

Kuroko sighed deeply as she entered a small convenience store, sounding to anyone like a girl who had just been dumped by her boyfriend and was going to buy some ice cream to dampen the sorrow. Konori-senpai had asked her to buy milk, and she needed something to chew on while at headquarters herself, or she felt like she'd go mad… perhaps she should have asked that blonde girl for some apples as a reward for helping her.

There were several customers inside, amongst them another of her fellow students, standing by the manga rack. A dejected sniff left through her nose; some of them really had those kinds of hobbies, eh? Not that it mattered, but reading manga didn't seem like a proper hobby for any woman. Still, if they wanted to use their money on it, Kuroko wouldn't stop them.

Looking closely though, it seemed like this girl was actually reading the magazine right from the rack. _Really! At least pay for it, you snobbish scrooge!_ Really, doing such things would cast a negative light on every student in their school; had they no sense of responsibility?

She glared at the back of the girl's head, when the culprit suddenly put the magazine down and turned around; that's when she gasped in horror instead.

"AAH!" Her shrill scream did not fail to capture any of the customer's attention; the girl stopped and turned her head towards the noise. Her expression was bored, just like the time they met in the back alley.

Seeing Kuroko and the green armband on her sleeve, she huffed: "Oh. You again." Somehow, she seemed like a total opposite of the kind girl Kuroko had met just minutes ago.

"Don't say that in such a nonchalant voice after being caught red-handed stand-reading manga in a convenience store!" Kuroko screeched, pointing accusingly at the manga racks. She didn't really understand why she was so worked up, but for some reason just the sight of that face made her insides completely twisted.

The girl looked at her contemplatively, and then crossed her arms. "Why are you acting like your life is falling apart? It's not like I've inconvenienced you by reading manga, is it?"

Apparently, in addition to roaming the streets dealing with criminals, this girl had no qualms about not paying for her magazines. This fact annoyed the Judgment member to no end.

"It's demoralizing!" She cried. "I knew you were a delinquent, but smearing your bacteria all over the pages for the next person to pick it up to become seriously ill – is there something wrong with you?"

"There's so many things wrong with that sentence I don't even know where to start." The girl muttered. Then she shifted her weight and put her hands on her waist. "So? You gonna arrest me or something? You know, if I was actually a criminal I wouldn't be standing here waiting for you to get on with it."

Kuroko fumed, her pigtails waving dangerously; _really, this rule-breaking moron ought to…_ _urrrg, and there's nothing to threaten her with either, seeing as it's not really illegal, and it is outside school, so who could… _Certainly there had to be a rule about this somewhere in Tokiwadai… _…ah._ She suddenly smirked.

"Your name is Misaka, right?" She couldn't remember the first name, but it didn't matter.

"Aah, that's right." She said proudly.

"Since you're here, I assume you live in the dorm outside the Garden."

"Yes…"

"How about I tell the dorm mistress how a certain Misaka-san is stand-reading manga –"

"Wha –" the girl spluttered, suddenly red-faced, "you wouldn't dare!" Was there a flicker of fear in those brown eyes? Kuroko's smirk grew wider.

"Ara, I have no doubt she won't merely be handing out deduction points if one of the girls were doing something so _outrageous_…" She truly enjoyed seeing that stupid face grow redder and redder, until the girl looked like she might explode any second.

"F-fine!" She huffed abruptly, turning her head away in feigned arrogance. "What do you want, then? My autograph or something? I swear, if you ask me about my underwear I will –"

"Why the heck would I want any of that?" Kuroko asked, deadpan.

"Huh?" The older girl looked at her again, wondrous expression replacing the angry one.

Kuroko sighed deeply. "Really, are all the seniors at Tokiwadai so full of themselves?"

"Wha –"

"Truly, if you all go around offering your underwear to the underclassmen, my view on this school will be forever dilapidated."

"I didn't offer you anything at all!" She was beet red again. "Jeez, you need to open your ears, moron." Drawing a deep breath, she seemed to calm down. Her rapid changes in temperament was quite impressive, if nothing else. "Then, what do you want if not anything like that?"

"I just want all the students in our school to behave properly and not do anything to deter the reputation of us all." Kuroko said proudly, like the picture perfect class representative (which she wasn't).

"Huuh, you're one of those, eh?" Surprisingly, the gaze she received from the upperclassman was almost pitiful. The older girl turned around with a sigh and walked off to the exit. "And here I almost thought there was at least one normal girl amongst the new first-years."

"What the –" Kuroko started, but the other girl exited the store before she could say anything else. Left with a sense of unfulfillment, she turned towards the rows of wares, and then glared at the other customers who'd been watching the ordeal. "_What?_"

They hurriedly went on with their own business.

XXX

Kazari gave a deep and tired sigh which hardly fit to her current predicament of enjoying her favorite crepe at a bench in one of seventh district's many plazas. The weather was warm, but not too hot, and the sky was blue, like a precognition of summer.

"Hey, what's up with the long face?" Saten-san asked, leaning forward to study her friend properly. "I didn't really mean to flip your skirt up in front of that gang of boys, okay? Cheer up!"

"That's not it!" Kazari said defiantly, reddening at the memory. Just as they left the café, Saten-san found it a good opportunity to "air out the stuff" as she'd said. Just Kazari's luck that a few boys from their school walked by right at that time. Their snickers still rang in her mind. She sighed again. "The test is coming up."

"Test?" Saten-san thought for a moment, and then her face turned aghast. "We have a test? Already!" She looked at Kazari with a dreadful expression. "I haven't learned anything at all since we started."

Kazari huffed. "The Judgment test." She clarified. "It's this weekend."

"Aah, that one." Saten-san laughed. "You really scared me there for a second, sheesh. But," she added, suddenly sober, "didn't you say that was coming up in a few weeks?"

"It was a few weeks the last time I checked!" Kazari squealed, clenching her eyes shut.

"Err, so that's how it is…" Saten-san's face faltered. "Still, it can't be that bad, right? Just run a couple of rounds around a baseball field and do ten push-ups or something, right?"

"It's harder than that!" Kazari protested. "There's 13 different tests! And there's a theory test too. I've heard you need to know at least 150 of Academy City's laws by heart."

"Um, there's the no smoking in the streets, no exit or entrance without a permit, and…" Saten-san faltered, having started counting on her fingers, but not reaching to more than two no matter how hard she tried. "Is there anything else?" She asked sheepishly.

Kazari sighed again. "You ought to know about the curfew time at least…"

"Oh, that's right!" Saten-san said. "That's three then!" She grinned sheepishly. "But you've been training for this, right? You'll make it, I'm sure of it!"

Kazari's gut clenched; those words... "I really hope so…"

"Hm well, how about switching gears for now…" The longhaired girl said, "have you thought about joining any clubs?"

"Eh?" Kazari was pulled out of her depressed state, and she looked at her friend with a questioning glance.

"You know, there's the basketball club, baseball club, swim club, host club…" Saten-san paused, gave Kazari a thorough look, and then continued; "or maybe the computer club…"

"Why did you suddenly add that?" Kazari reddened instantly, but she couldn't very well deny it. If she'd have to choose, she would have chosen computers anyway. Still, she didn't need to present it so blatantly.

"Haha, sorry," Saten-san laughed. "You just seemed to shrink at all the other words. Sports isn't your thing, I take it?"

"No…" Kazari sighed. "And if I'm going to work for Judgment, I won't have time for club activities anyway."

"Hm, I guess. Well, me, I'm gonna join the baseball club!"

"Eh, really?"

"And then I'll become the next Tiger Woods!"

"Ti -? Eeeh?" Kazari stared at her, but it was hard to tell whether she was joking or not.

Saten-san noticed her astonished expression, and gave her a questioning look. "What? Something wrong with –" She was instantly cut off by a loud sound from somewhere behind them, like something huge hitting the ground; they both turned around in surprise, and Saten-san stood up. "What was that?"

The sound seemed to have come from the alley behind the small store they were benched in front of; this was a less frequented street, but it was still fairly crowded, and the other pedestrians nearby stopped and stared in wonder as well.

Laughter drifted out of the alley, and then running out came three gleeful boys, wearing the male version of Sakugawa middle school's winter uniform. Kazari recognized them from a parallel class. They were known as troublemakers around school.

"It's those -!" Saten-san obviously recognized them too, and then she suddenly climbed up onto the bench they were sitting on and yelled: "Hey! What do you think you're doing, and in front of a Judgment member too!"

Kazari paled and shrunk in on herself. The boys stopped and turned around, frightening scowls on their faces. They were only a few meters away, their escape down the sidewalk having gone right past their bench.

"Judgment?" The guy at the front asked, eying them both critically. "So? I'm not afraid of you guys." And with good reason, Kazari thought, eying his huge upper body and broad hands.

"Well you should be!" Saten-san declared, slapping a hand on Kazari's shoulder with a proud smile. "Uiharu here will soon be able to arrest you guys for wanton destruction, so you better keep your act clean."

"Eeh, it's that skirt girl!" They laughed. "You trying to scare us with _that_? That scaredy-cat can't even arrest a sloth!" Kazari reddened in embarrassment.

"You can't laugh at a Judgment member!" Saten-san exclaimed.

"She's not even a member yet, is she? You said 'soon'." The guy grinned crookedly. "And you know what?" He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing in Kazari's mind. "If you tell on us, I'll make sure you regret it." His grin turned even more confident, and his buddies snickered. Then they ran off.

"Jeez, morons!" Saten-san huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

Kazari gave a deep sigh of relief. Then she turned fiercely on her friend. "Saten-san, you shouldn't do that!"

"Huh?" Saten-san looked down at her questioningly.

"What if it had turned into a fight or something?"

"Aah." Saten-san looked up, considering this option. Then she looked back at her and grinned. "In that case you'd take 'em out with your flower power!"

Kazari groaned.

It turned out the boys had upturned a container at the back of the store, and garbage was strewn about everywhere. The owner, an elderly man with rather bad eyesight, seemed oblivious to the fact that he could report the culprits, even though Saten-san spent an entire ten minutes trying to explain him why he should. To make matters worse, the backyard didn't have a functioning surveillance camera.

In the end another student dropped by and used his ability to turn the container right side up, and they then helped cleaning up in the yard; the store owner thanked them by giving them all a freshly baked muffin from his shop.

It seemed like this would be one of those cases that was left unreported in Academy City.

XXX

Kuroko's mood had been bad all day, cursing the moronic upperclassman and everything about her. Even her typing at the laptop was more furious than usual.

"There was another robbery?" She frowned, turning away from her computer screen to look at Konori-senpai. The older girl was sipping a carton of milk, one arm leisurely wrapped below her impressive bust.

"Yes, it seems like it happened just before you showed up. The girl says someone bumped into her from behind and grabbed her school bag." Konori said, looking at the e-mail she'd gotten. "She didn't see the culprit though, and neither did any of the witnesses."

"Hmm… a chameleon?" Kuroko said, putting a finger to her chin. 'Chameleon' would be the term for those students who could blend into the terrain or otherwise fade from sight.

"Perhaps, though there aren't that many ability users who can turn themselves completely invisible, even so as to fool security cameras." Konori looked down into her milk thoughtfully, then took another swig. "Anti-Skill has asked us to support in any way we can, since their capacity is just about bursting. Apparently they think it's related to some other cases they've been investigating lately."

"So they never solved that one." Kuroko frowned, thinking back to the back alley. However much she wished that jerk had something to do with it, this time there really was no doubt she wasn't involved; at the time of the robbery, they had been confronting each other in the store.

She let out a frustrated breath and turned back to her computer. "Well then, let's get a list over possible suspects and start checking alibis."

Konori watched her silently for a minute, and then tossed the empty milk carton into the bin. "How's school?"

"Fine." She didn't even pause in her typing.

Konori sighed with a small smile. "That's good."

* * *

Note:

_Tiger Woods_ is a famous golf player, if you for some reason didn't know.

Unfulfillment: Is this even a real word? Can someone with awesome English skills please help me out? I am looking for a word describing the feeling of... not being fulfilled... or something...

Also, how come the story seems totally different once posted here? It's like I'm reading something totally new, and suddenly there's a block of text I never noticed before or a sentence that _obviously_ needs to be rewritten… O_– Anyway, hope you liked it!

Next time: "-her face stiffened in a horrified expression as a sudden revelation unveiled before her eyes."  
That's right: Kazari realizes she _has_ forgotten to put her panties on!


	4. Chapter 4: Ojousamas

**Chapter 4: Ojou-samas**

It was Sunday evening. Most students lay in their beds, gathering energy for a new week at school. Even though it was spring, the nights were still dark and chilly, and few people ventured outside at this time.

There was one, though.

A girl with long, twin-tailed hair and the uniform of a famous rich girl's school was walking along the streets, heading back to her dormitory after a long day at work.

_There are 47 people in Academy City who can turn themselves completely invisible._ Kuroko's brow was furrowed in deep concentration. _Out of those, 26 live in other districts or are completely out of the picture._ That still left 21 possible suspects though; way too many to check up on in a reasonable amount of time. Even with all the extra work at the office this weekend, they were no closer to solving the case of the invisible robber, and there had been three more robberies since Friday. They even asked 176th branch to help them out, but the other Judgment division barely had the time to even look at the list of suspects because they were so damn _busy_.

_And now I'm even too late for curfew. _She sighed and observed the quiet and vacant streets around her. The street lights were dimmed down to save power, creating large shadows in the corners, and there were no distant noises of traffic like during the day. For any outsider, it would seem like the entire city was sleeping.

But there was one person who surely never slept. Kuroko stopped before the road in front of the main entrance of her dorm, leaving her out of range for the security cameras up front. The dorms of Tokiwadai each had one woman with the title of "Dorm Mistress" or "Dorm Supervisor". They both had a rather sketchy reputation; Kuroko had never met the one responsible for the dorm inside the Garden, but the dorm mistress of her dorm was known as 'Old Gooseberry' (probably the worst nickname proper young ladies could ever cough up) and she was quite fierce. No doubt Kuroko's neck would be twisted around as she was given another deduction point, and her roommate would be even sourer than she already was.

But Kuroko was prepared today. After she was scolded last time, she'd taken the time to survey the building in its entirety, locating all the security cameras and their angles – as well as their dead spots. They were few, and their radius very small – but they were there. According to her scouting, she could teleport to the first spot from just outside the entrance, and then directly into her room. The middle stop was annoying, but necessary; if she wanted to teleport directly into her room in one go, she'd have to start from the lobby to make sure she reached it. Walking right into the lobby was the same as announcing your late-coming with a trumpet and fanfare though, and that was equivalent with suicide.

The only problem would be the cameras outside the main entrance. However, she wouldn't need to be on that spot for more than the blink of an eye – surely, unless the dorm mistress was staring intently at that exact screen at that exact moment, no-one would notice her even appearing there.

_This is easy for someone like me,_ she smirked confidently and prepared herself.

Suddenly, the street was vacant, no trace of a middle school girl having stood there just a moment before.

She appeared in front of the entrance an instant later, ready to teleport onward to the next spot without a beat – then the doors suddenly banged open. Startled by the sudden _wham_, she lost concentration, and then stood there like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, staring at the fuming face of the dorm mistress.

"No way -!"

"I was wondering when you'd make your move, Shirai." The dorm mistress said coldly. "You seemed extremely suspicious out there, and at first I thought you might be a thief." _Ah, stupid! I never anticipated she would actually be standing inside and look out the windows! _Kuroko wanted to bang her head into the brick wall beside her.

The dorm mistress' glasses reflected in the light of the lamps above when she lowered her head slightly. "This is your second time, Shirai." She approached slowly, and Kuroko gulped, sweat pouring down her face. "You won't turn out to be a problem student, _will you_…?"

XXX

Kuroko breathed deeply as she opened the door to her room a few minutes later. _Total failure. I didn't expect her to be that strategic._ Her body still ached from the mistreatment it had received. Luckily, it seemed Sumone-san was asleep, so at least she was spared her grieving.

She was planning on shedding her clothes and go to bed without using the bathroom in order to not wake the sour girl, but was surprised when the lamp on one of the night tables turned on with a flare.

"You know, you're actually quite stupid, aren't you?" The voice of Sumone-san penetrated the still room. The slick haired girl was sitting in her bed, looking at Kuroko with a tired, but serious gaze.

Kuroko bristled, but reined her anger in; instead of barking back she sniffed proudly and turned her chin up. "I can't take such an insult seriously coming from the girl who scored second-to-last on the IQ test."

Sumone-san reddened, but her stubbornness easily matched that of Kuroko, and she bit back: "IQ has nothing to do with it, though; apparently your amazing 1500 IQ score doesn't help you understand the dorm rules at all!"

Kuroko hmph'ed at her feeble comeback. "I consider my work at Judgment more important than a deduction point or two."

"Well, your precious Judgment work will be suffering too when we get detention for your third point!" Sumone-san spat. "I thought Judgment members were supposed to care for their fellow students!"

"That is exactly what I have been doing!"

"My friends are laughing at me for sharing a room with a rule-breaking Judgment member!"

"Then I suggest you find yourself some new friends!" Kuroko grabbed her sleeping wear and entered the bathroom in a huff; through the door she could still hear Sumone-san's muffled call:

"And that lingerie is really creepy: Please wear some _normal_ pajamas!"

XXX

Kazari did not look forward to enter the classroom this Monday morning of their third week at Sakugawa middle school. Even though she knew nothing horrible would happen, she somehow anticipated that to be the case anyway. She gulped, and stared at the door in front of her with a terrified expression, as if it was going to bite off her hand if she reached for it.

"Are you rooted to the ground, or what?" She jumped when the voice of one of her classmates disrupted her thoughts, and turned around. Shimawata Kasuri and Kunita Inu were standing there, the former with her hands on her hips and a direct look at her through the polished glasses on her nose.

Kazari smiled uncertainly and rubbed her neck. "I was just…"

"Sheesh, you're such a slowpoke." Shimawata-san laughed, and the comment hit Kazari's abdomen with a pang. She followed the curly-head and the tall Kunita-san inside the classroom with heavy steps, and wanted to disappear completely when Ruiko greeted them joyfully.

"Saten, you need to keep a lookout for your friend here," Shimawata-san said, pointing a thumb Kazari's way. "Or she'll turn into a decorated statue."

Ruiko grinned. "If that happens I'll just put her on a pedestal in my future garden!"

"Oh, great idea! Like a scarecrow!"

Kazari stood before her desk, staring into the wood with a stoic expression. For some reason, she felt as if she lacked the energy to bend her knees and sit down.

"Neh, Uiharu," Ruiko appeared and slapped her back cheerfully. "How's our newest Judgment member doing today? You were so exhausted last night you didn't even take the phone; did you party without inviting me?" She laughed.

Kazari drew a deep, shaky breath. Yesterday had been a stressful day for sure; the tests had been exhausting. She was beat and tired, not to mention…

Before she knew it, she was wailing her eyes out, tears streaming down her cheeks in rivers. Ruiko let out a startled sound, and Shimawata-san and Kunita-san's eyes grew wide.

Gathering herself, Ruiko grabbed Kazari's shoulders and shook her fiercely. "Uiharu! Uiharu, snap out of it!"

"I'm no go-ood," Kazari cried, not even noticing the looks from their other classmates. "I'm just a s-slowpoke and I c-couldn't run the lap within the required time and –" while Shimawata-san suddenly sported a slightly guilty look, Ruiko gazed at the crying girl in surprise.

"You failed the test?" She asked, and Kazari cried even louder.

"I tried, I really did!" She wailed. "I really wanted to become a J-Judgment member and…"

Ruiko smiled tenderly while Kazari's words ended up being swallowed by her sobs. Enveloping the other girl in a hug, she said: "I'm sure you did, Uiharu. Don't cry."

Kazari hiccupped, and tried to dry her tears on her sleeve, but they just kept coming. Shimawata-san handed her a handkerchief, and she blew her nose.

"Was the running the only thing you failed at?" Kunita-san asked, dark eyes sporting a look of compassion.

Kazari nodded, and blew her nose again.

Shimawata-san clenched her fist with a scowl. "Man, show me the moron who made up those tests and I'll…"

"It's my own fault!" Kazari cried. She sniveled, her eyes were red and puffy, and she felt utterly useless. "I couldn't do it, so it's my own fault!"

"Oh come on, that's not true…" Shimawata-san said unconvincingly, and Kazari hiccupped again.

Ruiko let out a small breath, and smiled at Kazari's crying face. "That's right; it's your own fault." The other two girls gaped, and Kazari's eyes grew wide. Ruiko put her hands on her hips and gazed at her friend with a smile. "It's your own fault, so that means we can do something about it."

XXX

Kuroko gazed unseeingly at her laptop, too far into her own thoughts to even register the voice of Hiraga-sensei at the front of the classroom. She was still fuming at last night's discussion with Sumone-san; even after she went to bed, the other girl kept on lecturing her on how important it was for her to have a clean record. Exactly _why_ had escaped Kuroko, but she guessed it was in order to impress some faction members or an extremely important _ojou-sama_ at school.

Luckily they sat in opposite ends of the classroom; else she imagined the other girl would have continued to lecture her even now. _Who is she to tell me if I'm fit to be in Judgment or not?_ She gritted her teeth at the memory.

"Shirai-san." Someone whispered intently from her side; she jumped and almost knocked over her desk before realizing it was just Awatsuki-san. The other girl smiled apologetically. "We are supposed to go now."

Indeed, the rest of the class was already on their feet, chatting excitedly on their way out the classroom door. The reason was easily explained: This Monday was the day many of them had looked forward to for some time now – the day they were assigned their very own guide (popularly known as an "Onee-sama") from the upperclassmen. For a week, the second- and first-year would be eating meals together, doing homework together, and even hang out in their free time. This was a tradition at Tokiwadai. Obviously Kuroko had conveniently forgotten about it until today as she had much more important things to worry about.

Besides, what was the point? By now, starting their third week of attending this place, all of the first-years were already quite familiar with the school and its facilities. If the purpose was to make the student body more tightly bonded, it was useless: To try and bond a school full of different factions and semi-war conditions was a ridiculous effort in the first place.

And yet, despite her numerous arguments, she had nothing to say in this matter and was left with no choice but follow the rest of her class out onto the track field of Tokiwadai's enormous campus.

A class of second-years was already neatly lined up there; Kuroko barely threw them a glance before scowling at the ground in front of her. She didn't share the excited expectations of her classmates, and felt it was all a waste as they lined up as well.

She hoped her assigned second-year would feel the same as she. It would be best if they spent as little time together as possible. She couldn't have her dangling around Judgment headquarters or in the dorm room anyway, and as for doing homework together or eating meals together, she preferred the silence of being alone. It enabled her to think more clearly. Not that they'd have anything to discuss either way; she doubted she'd share any mentionable interests with a self-absorbed ojou-sama.

After greeting the other teacher, Hiraga-sensei turned to address his class. "You already know your groups." _Sadly, yes. _Kuroko was grouped up with Sumone-san and her best friend. She wondered whether this was a deliberate move from the Gods of misfortune. "Once all the members of your group have your guides, you may start the tour as described on the pamphlet."

Then he started calling out their names; first the first-year, then the second-year who would be acting as a guide. As he progressed slowly down the list, Kuroko gazed ahead uninterested, trying to force her mind to think of the case of the robberies instead. But the closer Hiraga-sensei came to her own surname, the tighter her stomach felt. _Am I actually excited about this?_ She shook her head forcefully. No way.

Her classmates were sighing and groaning as the row of second-years thinned, and the favorites from this class were being occupied one after the other. Kuroko gazed critically at the older girls who cheerfully greeted their younger counterparts, seeing no reason to be disappointed for not being assigned to them.

"Shirai Kuroko," Hiraga-sensei suddenly said, and she stiffened, looking forward with a frozen face. Somehow it felt like she was just about to receive the death sentence. "You will be matched up with Hitomi Aika."

Several of her own classmates sighed dreamily as the beautiful blonde with the cute glasses and gentle smile approached Kuroko. She was surprised; she remembered the upperclassman like a sunny day in the rainy season. Even if their brief meeting only involved picking apples and oranges from the ground, the second-year had left a pleasant impression.

"Shirai-san!" Hitomi-san greeted with a smile. "What a coincidence!"

"Indeed." Kuroko said, not truly able to match the radiance. Her ears were hurting with the sounds of gasps and glees around them; it seemed Hitomi-san was one of those 'favorites' after all. _How can I explain to her how I don't want to be hanging around with her? _

"Sumone Nelly." Hiraga-sensei continued, the name of Kuroko's roommate making her ears twitch; even though they were standing right next to each other, they hadn't even shared a single word. "You'll be matched with Misaka Mikoto."

There was an explosion of excited whispers, though she herself frowned. _Misaka… isn't that the moro-_

"It's _her_," someone whispered. "The _Railgun_!"

_WHAT? _Her face stiffened in a horrified expression as a sudden revelation unveiled before her eyes.

"Hi there! I'm Misaka Mikoto; nice to meet you." The person that greeted Sumone-san cheerfully was smiling now rather than scowling, but there was no doubt it was the same girl; the same hair, the same body, the same face. It was the delinquent from the back alley who made a habit of reading manga for free in convenience stores; _Misaka Mikoto… the Railgun!_ Kuroko couldn't breathe as a million thoughts crashed into her mind at once.

"S-Sumone Nelly," Sumone-san stuttered, and bent her whole upper body so deep her nose almost touched the ground. Kuroko was too shocked to revel or even gag at the sight though, staring at the upperclassman with a meltdown in progress in her head.

Misaka-san noticed her stare, and looked at her. Without ever losing the smile, the second-year asked: "You have a toothache or something?"

"Y-Y –" Kuroko spluttered, her face heating up like a teapot. "_YOU!_" Her bellow attracted quite a bit of attention for a moment; Hiraga-sensei glared at her for interrupting. She clenched her teeth, grimacing. "How come…" Somehow, she was shocked, scared and even feeling a bit hurt. "How come you didn't tell me!"

_How come I didn't realize?_ She'd knocked the possibility away so easily. Misaka, Misaka Mikoto… she hadn't even bothered to check the name in the database. Like with the other level five's, one usually recognized them by their nickname, not their given names. Still, she must have heard her name mentioned in context _somewhere_; she ought to have realized! _Stupid, stupid Kuroko!_

"Tell you?" Misaka-san asked, clearly puzzled. "I didn't know which first-year I was going to be assigned to, if that's what you mean. What, are you disappointed?"

Kuroko glared at the ground, feeling awfully constricted and awkward, but strangely, found she was not disappointed at all; quite the opposite, in fact. Something about this discovery just felt… _right_. While the second-year might not be quite the lady-like character she'd imagined, she was still pompous, arrogant and proud – she even flaunted her power about, didn't she? (No wonder she'd been able to take out those thugs…)

"Seems like we'll be grouped up then, Misaka-san." Hitomi-san smiled, and the other upperclassman looked at her.

"Yeah, I guess so." She smiled.

Sumone-san looked like she was about to melt into the ground; Kuroko could do nothing but tsk at the sight. No doubt the other girl saw this as an enormous opportunity to raise her own reputation within Tokiwadai; being associated with the Railgun would surely not make her _less_ popular.

XXX

They joined up with Sumone-san's friend (Kuroko could not bother remembering her name) and her second-year guide. The other first-year muttered her way through her greeting with Misaka-san and was knocked over by the beaming friendliness of Hitomi-san. The other second-year seemed kind enough, though she seemed as shy as the first-years. If anything, she could have passed as the older sister of Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san.

The first stop on the tour was the library. As they walked through the school towards their destination, Kuroko became glaringly aware of the attention they were receiving. The other first- and second-year classes had the same kind of setup as themselves this day, and everywhere they went, other groups of girls would already be, chatting and laughing with each other.

When their group walked past though, there were an unaccounted number of glittering eyes and delightful gasps; Kuroko was appalled at seeing this included even some of the second-years. Sumone-san seemed to swell with pride at the admiring and jealous glances (she was sticking awfully close to Misaka-san too), but much of the attention was directed at Hitomi-san as well. Kuroko tried her best to ignore them, but some things were harder to ignore than others. For instance, a group of girls squealing:

"It's Misaka-san and Hitomi-san!"

"What, Misaka-sama? The Railgun?"

"I really hope Hitomi-san wins the election. She is _so_ cute!"

"Who is that girl beside her though? She seems kind of scary…"

And Kuroko's scowl only grew worse. The second-years seemed fairly easy-going with all the attention though, and simply smiled brilliantly at their on-lookers. At one point Misaka-san was almost knocked over by a desperate girl launching herself at her waist, but Sumone-san quickly dragged the offender off with a rather scary glare, as if she was some kind of bodyguard.

The whole thing would have been amusing had she not been part of the group.

Kuroko gave a deep sigh.

XXX

Even in this day and age, with computers at every desk, books were regarded as important tools in the process of education. Tokiwadai used some of the finer books in their curriculum program, and encouraged their students to read in their free time. Though most of the books were in Japanese, a considerable amount was also printed in other languages, with a whole section dedicated to English, German and French. Also, though you might find a few romans, these were mainly not books you would usually find at any young girl's night table. These were encyclopedias, geographical and historical, books on world economics and the development of technology, space and science, health and medicine, amongst others.

Hitomi-san told them this and more to the amazement of all the girls inside the library. She had gathered an audience of girls, though Kuroko found it hard to judge whether they listened because they were actually interested or because Hitomi-san just seemed to spread cheerfulness with her presence alone.

She looked at the last "Onee-sama", who seemed to have an audience of her own. Though the first-years that was flocking around Misaka-san seemed more like they were viewing some awe-frightening rare animal rather than an older student. Sumone-san and her sidekick friend were gleefully flanking her sides, as if they would catch some of the glory by standing next to her.

"Misaka-sama, you ranked 8th in the last school-wide exam, right?" One of the girls shyly asked. Kuroko's eyes widened slightly; did the moron have _brains_?

"Ah, yeah…" Misaka-san smiled.

"That's amazing!" Another exclaimed, her cheeks flaming red. "Sumone, you're really lucky! I bet she knows a lot of study tricks!"

"Of course; she's the Railgun!" Sumone-san answered. The other girls 'ooh'-ed silently, like this was an explanation to everything they'd ever wonder about; Misaka-san still smiled, but… it seemed kind of awkward. Kuroko frowned. Was that supposed to be… modesty? From _this_ person? Surely she realized such an act would fool no-one? She had a burning desire to go and hit the idiot upside the head to make her go back to what she'd been like when she met her outside school; this just seemed too farfetched. Was this really the same girl? She snorted loudly.

The girls stilled and turned to look at her; Sumone-san's glare particularly venomous. "What's your problem, Shirai?"

It was rather unpleasant to have several pairs of eyes staring at her like she'd just interrupted the prime minister during his new year speech; she ignored the feeling though, and sighed theatrically.

"I'm merely amazed that you would consider this imbecile as anything special."

"Gh-" It seemed the comment hit a nerve in Misaka-san; the second-year instantly reddened, but it was nothing compared to the other girls.

"How dare you -!"

"Saying such awful things to Misaka-san -!"

"What a horrible person -!"

Though they may all have said something individually, when put together, it sounded like a choir of squeaking mice.

"Maa, maa…" Misaka-san suddenly said, instantly cutting off the complaints and reacquiring the attention. "It's fine, really."

"Aaah!" One of the girls squealed like she'd just seen her dream come true. "Misaka-sama really is mature!"

"So calm and gentle!"

Misaka-san laughed, and Kuroko stared at her with a sour feeling in her chest. How come she didn't seem like the girl Kuroko had met outside school at all? Her teeth gritted. _She really is just as fake as the rest of them!_

When they left the library a few minutes later (finally shaking off all the pink-cheeked fan girls), and stopped outside a restroom to wait for the most part of their group, Kuroko glared at the second-year from the side, as if trying to see right through her head and into her brain.

Misaka-san noticed, and looked back. "What?"

"Are you really the Railgun?" The question left Kuroko's mouth before she'd even thought it.

Sumone-san tch'ed, shooting a disapproving glare her way, and Misaka-san looked at her in surprise. Then she sighed tiredly and looked away.

"What, are you going to ask me for my autograph now? You know, I already gave you the chance, so it's too late now."

Kuroko huffed. "I do not want the autograph of a rule-breaking delinquent other than on a letter of confession."

"Guh –" Misaka-san's cheeks reddened, and she crossed her arms stubbornly. "Fine, then don't ask."

Kuroko sighed dejectedly while Sumone-san hurriedly grabbed the second-year's attention.

She didn't even know why she had asked to begin with; there was no doubt to her by now that this girl really was the one known as the pride of Tokiwadai. A level five, and ranked as the third strongest amongst them at that, she seemed like any other second-year at first glance.

Perhaps Kuroko had merely thought she would be different. Seeing her interact with Sumone-san and the other girls, she seemed like any other ojou-sama of their school, smiling and laughing with the same grace and modesty present in everyone else. How had she imagined her to be anyway? Wasn't it just like this?

"Misaka-san, Sumone-san, Shirai-san." Hitomi-san suddenly captured everyone's attention, exiting the restroom with the rest of the girls in tow. She was smiling almost humorously, and Kuroko had a sudden feeling that she'd heard them talk. "Shall we move on?"

XXX

During that day, Kuroko learned more about Tokiwadai than she could ever have imagined was left to know. At the large outdoor pool, the last second-year excitedly told them how it had been used as a training pool before the last Olympics, and they were showed the many courts and sports fields in the campus, as well as the flowerbeds at the back of the building, the hidden room with the fluffy pink pillows for "relaxation after class" (reserved for third-years), the infirmary with more equipment than an average hospital, the student council room and the principal's office. In the cafeteria during lunch they could hardly find a seat for the amount of people (Kuroko eyed the empty table seemingly reserved for the former student council president and her second-in-commanders with a frown), and opted for eating their lunches outside.

All the time, Sumone-san did her best in grappling Misaka-san to herself, showering her with questions and not even giving her best friend any opening to talk with the second-year. Kuroko watched her roommate in displeasure, but was even more annoyed at the fact that Misaka-san merely acted kindly and never showed the leech away. Obviously the girl actually liked the attention and just pretended to be put off. It bothered her to no end, and she found herself glaring at the two of them quite often.

By the time the last school bell rang, Kuroko was exhausted from the amount of glees, gasps and shy giggles that had surrounded them all day, and the turbulence of emotions and impressions invading her head.

While Sumone-san's friend and her guide waved their goodbyes outside the school gates and left for the dormitory inside the Garden of Education, Misaka-san and Sumone-san both went the other way (the latter obviously trying to nonchalantly keep up the conversation with the former). Kuroko was left to groan tiredly. She had no energy, but she still needed to go to Judgment headquarters to continue the investigation into those robberies. Joy. _I wonder if Konori-senpai would scold me if I called in sick…_

"Well, are you feeling a bit more relieved now?" The voice of Hitomi-san broke into her thoughts, and she looked up, puzzled at the question. The older girl was smiling gently. "You seemed like you've been dreading this day for a long time this morning."

Kuroko's eyes widened slightly. Then she huffed and raised her chin. "I did not particularly dread it," she claimed, "I merely think time can be better spent than by roaming around campus all day." Although when faced with the question, she realized she _had_ been dreading it.

"Is that so?" Hitomi-san smiled still, and Kuroko pursed her lips.

"Ara, if it isn't Tokiwadai's disgrace and a fragile little belladonna." The voice that interrupted their conversation was hardly friendly; if anything, it dripped of sarcasm. Kuroko turned, and was appalled to see none other than Asanuma Reiko and her two faithful followers standing before them.

XXX

* * *

Note:

Now this chapter gives me a headache. It was totally different the first time I wrote it, and I keep changing and adding things every time I read it. The main challenge, I think, is to keep the characters in character, since well, they're not really _in character_ yet! (Did that make sense?) Although I think Kuroko changed the most after meeting Mikoto, I also believe meeting Kuroko affected Mikoto in some ways. I have no idea what Mikoto was like before she met the devil of an underclassman though, but I've tried to portray it as this fic progresses.

Uiharu and Saten also get their share of the story, though I'm uncertain whether you'll find it lacking in comparison. We'll see, I guess.

And sorry about the hopeless cliffhanger. I had to split it somewhere. This chapter could have been longer, but that means the next would be shorter.

As always, feel free to tell me what you think. If there's something you like, don't like, don't get or puzzles you, something you think could have been done different, or something you think is just plain amazing, fire away!

(As for grammar, I seem unable to figure out the 'were' and 'was'. This time I remembered the spell check before posting, and they are mixed up everywhere...)

Oh, and, I want to thank co426e, who's been reviewing my stories like a madman ;) co426e and everyone else, thanks for sharing your thoughts, it really makes me want to keep on posting!

Terms and words in this chapter:

_Old Gooseberry _= synonym for the Devil. "A gooseberry can be a chaperon, possibly meaning an adult who pretends to pick gooseberries while keeping an eye on the younger people." The refined ladies of Tokiwadai use a refined way of picking on their dorm mistress.

_Maa, maa _= now, now (used in calming people down). I could have just written "now, now…" instead, but… I am a wannabe. I like using Japanese words randomly. And I think "maa, maa" sounds better. As long as it's not "moo, moo" it's all okay, right?

_Ara_ = Something like "oh" or "my!". I figure elegant ladies might use this word.

_Belladonna _= A poisonous flower.

**Next time:** 2 paragraphs of story and 8 pages of author's note!

Also, allow me to complain loudly at the fact that FF won't allow me to type "? + !" or double "-". It is forcibly changed to only "!" and a single "-". "? + !" indicates an exclaimed question, and I use it sometimes. Using only "!" removes the question feel, and using only "?" removes the exclamation part. So. Damn you, FF.


	5. Chapter 5: The Balancing Power

**Chapter 5: The Balancing Power**

Asanuma-san was looking at Hitomi-san with what was probably supposed to be a kind smile, but which reeked of badly hidden contempt. _A belladonna?_ Kuroko could hardly believe there was anyone who would use the name of a flower to insult someone (if it was indeed an insult; she guessed it was) in the outside world; only in the Garden of Education would you find someone like that.

"Ah, Asanuma-san; are you heading to the dorm?" Hitomi-san smiled. A feeling of disappointment bloomed in Kuroko; she'd hoped the other girl would turn out to be a self-assured opponent for the pompous third-year, even though she had no reason to think that so far.

"I see no reason to tell you, but yes, I am." The older girl said arrogantly, and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "And you're rendezvousing with first-years, I see; getting desperate, are we?"

Kuroko bristled and was about to snap at her when Hitomi-san rather elegantly stepped forward and blocked her line of sight. She wanted to protest, when she noticed how the other girl's hand shook slightly, and the words died on her tongue.

"I am merely showing her around campus; I am sure you remember yourself doing the same last year, Asanuma-san." Her voice was still gentle, not an ounce of ill-wishing to trace.

"I was excused from such menial tasks due to their sheer level of unimportance," the third-year arrogantly claimed. "I guess you're not as lucky."

"Apparently not." Hitomi-san smiled.

Asanuma-san stared at her for a few more seconds, then hmph'ed and walked on past, without a glance at either of them. Kuroko glared at her back, and then realized only one of her companions had followed; the girl with her hair tied in a ponytail stood before Hitomi-san still, arms folded across her chest. She was not smiling.

"You better step out of the election campaign, Hitomi Aika."

That was all she said before she left. Though the words of Unabara Ryoko had been limited, the meaning behind them were clear; back off or be sorry. Kuroko gritted her teeth, wondering how the school could allow such behavior to exist on campus.

When the third-years were well out of earshot, she turned fiercely on Hitomi-san.

"How can you let them insult you like that!" She snapped. Her anger faded though, when she saw how the older girl's clenched fists were shaking.

"I know!" Hitomi-san exclaimed, and then grinded her fists into her temples, smacking her own school bag into herself in the process. "I know! But how do you fight such an arrogant –" she stopped herself, but Kuroko was sure what she had wanted to say was not of the child friendly variant.

Her upperclassman turned to her in despair. "If I argue with them, that's just what they want; they're trying to throw me off, to make me lose my temper, make me do something stupid, and then Asanuma-san will be the good girl and everyone will vote for her." She clenched her eyes and teeth tightly. "She's such a _bitch_!"

Kuroko's eyes widened. She'd never imagined _that_ word coming out of the gentle girl's mouth. She did not seem gentle now though; rather, she seemed too agitated to mind her words.

"Last year she got immensely popular by promising to cut the prices in the cafeteria in half; she never did, though she did flatter everyone who looked her way, and no-one remembered her promise." Hitomi-san said in apparent despair. "And she promised to fix the fact that the shower stalls only pour out cold water the first two seconds; she never did, but she did hand out Belgium chocolate to everyone, and it was all forgotten. I wish I knew how to get her; I wish I knew how to make everyone realize what an idiot she is!"

Kuroko felt pretty unmoved; she had no words of comfort to come with. She had imagined the elegant third-year to be a useless student council president and an arrogant fool, but she hadn't really thought anymore of it.

Hitomi-san drew a deep breath, and seemed to calm down somewhat. When she turned towards Kuroko, she was once again smiling. "I'm sorry, Shirai-san, you should not have to see me like that. I need to calm down, I think. Would you care to join me for some shopping?"

Kuroko felt her insides grow heavy with fatigue. This was exactly the thing she'd wanted to avoid.

"I'm sorry, I have to work…" She started, but Hitomi-san showed a flyer into her face suddenly (apparently it had been kept in her schoolbag), and Kuroko took it.

"I hope you don't mind my hobbies, but there's this new lingerie shop at seventh street I'd really like to visit…" Hitomi-san smiled with a small blush on her cheeks.

Kuroko was frozen to the spot. She was staring at the colorful pictures on the flyer, or rather, the garments that were sporting those colors. _So many kinds!_

At once, Judgment work was blown out of her mind like a candle in winter storm.

XXX

The shop Hitomi-san took her to was absolutely fantastic; decorated in wood, giving a calm atmosphere to the customers and allowing just the right amount of sunlight inside to allure the senses and create the right kind of lighting on the garments neatly hung in rows and rows along the walls. There were not only the common kind of lingerie's here, of course; all sorts of underwear decorated this delicate little shop. Thongs, G-strings, tangas, bras, bikinis, corsets, laced, knitted, silky, leather, striped, transparent, big, small; everything between Heaven and Earth was found here.

And Kuroko had never been here. In fact, she'd avoided anything inside this fortified town like the plague. She'd never imagined there would be stores like this one, though there was no reason to think otherwise of a town built exclusively for girls. It was obvious, and yet shocking, to find this hidden gem.

She was almost afraid to move and touch the fabrics, as if they were holy relics not to be tarnished by mortal hands. Hitomi-san however ran forward with a small squeal and immediately grabbed a pale red nightdress that was mostly see-through.

"Look at this, Shirai-san!" She showed the clothing to her underclassman, not even minding the other customers in the store as she waved the bold piece of underwear around. There were only girls in here anyway, even the shopkeeper, who was busy reading an English newspaper at the counter.

Kuroko stared as if enthralled. _How have I missed this for three whole weeks?_ It was as if she'd just discovered a new continent.

XXX

It's true that time flies when you do something you like.

"To think you ended up buying so many of them." Hitomi-san smiled as they left the store about an hour later. She was looking at the bag in Kuroko's hand, bulging from all the clothes stuffed inside.

"A woman takes a certain pride in her amount of clothes." Kuroko said stiffly, chin held high.

"Of course." Hitomi-san was clutching a shopping bag with a telling bulge herself. Her smile turned more tender. "I really enjoyed today; thank you for accompanying me. It was fun getting to know both you and your roommate."

Kuroko tsk'ed, not really happy at being reminded.

"Ah, you're not fond of her?" Hitomi-san asked, chuckling.

"We're just different kinds of people." Kuroko said, opting for the neutral route.

"Ah, really." Her smile was frustratingly knowing. Then she suddenly giggled. "Well, she certainly was a toll on Misaka-san."

Kuroko pursed her lips defiantly, and then, before she could consider why, asked: "Misaka-san is… she really is the Railgun, isn't she?"

"You really didn't know?" Hitomi-san asked, surprised. "You seemed so familiar with her I thought you knew her from before."

Kuroko turned her head away. "I don't know her at all! I mean, everyone has heard of her! I was just surprised she was so cheerful and friendly, is all." Though it was all probably just an act.

Hitomi-san smiled, shifting her schoolbag and shopping bag into her other hand. "Misaka-san seemed a bit more cheerful today than she's been lately. I hope you continue to talk with her like you do."

"Eh?" Kuroko's eyes widened slightly; they'd done nothing but yell at each other the few times they'd met.

Hitomi-san gave a small sigh and looked forward down the street, at the other all-girl's school students roaming the town after classes.

"The roles of the Railgun and 'Tokiwadai's ace' are not easy to play," she said, "especially not for a girl like Misaka-san, who is naturally stubborn and blunt."

_That sounds more like the girl I've met_, Kuroko thought grudgingly. Still, she was surprised at the other's words. She seemed quite familiar with her classmate.

"Do you know Misaka-san well?" She asked.

Hitomi-san suddenly laughed, waving her hand in denial. "No, no, we rarely exchange a word. She keeps a distance to all of her classmates, despite her cheerful demeanor. But I am the class representative, and I take a certain pride in keeping a relatively friendly relationship with all my classmates."

"I thought she was really popular." Kuroko thought back to the hordes of squeals and beams earlier that day, though truthfully, many of them had been directed at Hitomi-san.

"Ah, she is." Hitomi-san said. "But…" she gave her a considerate look. "Are you aware of the different factions in our school?"

"Well, yes…" Kuroko grumbled; her knowledge limited itself to knowing they seemed utterly annoying and unnecessarily complicated.

Hitomi-san smiled again. "I'll tell you some more, then. Care for a cup of tea?"

XXX

They situated themselves at a small, cozy café inside the Garden of Education. As with anywhere else in this garden, there was a mix of Tokiwadai students and students from the other girl's schools in here; apart from the uniforms though, there was no difference. Their manners, their speech, the size of their wallets – all the same.

By now, though, Kuroko's view on this town was looking about 200% better than this morning. She was determined to make up for all the lost time she could have used in that lingerie shop and others of its kind, and wouldn't even mind having to spend her time surrounded by these kinds of girls to gain her spoils.

Hitomi-san bought them each a very expensive tea, claiming she could never talk much without something warm to drink. Kuroko wondered briefly what she'd do in the middle of summer, when just thinking of warm things were enough to attract a heatstroke, but sipped her tea silently instead of voicing her concerns. In addition to the tea, she bought each of them a baguette, since shopping was tiring and it was close to dinner time anyway.

"I really like this place." Hitomi-san said, a cheerful smile on her face. "This was the first place I visited after starting Tokiwadai; the owner got my order wrong and then gave me two orders for free."

"Hm…" Kuroko eyed her tea, and then looked at her upperclassman. "What did you have to say about these factions?"

"You sure don't like to beat around the bush, do you?" Hitomi-san laughed. Then her expression turned sober. "The factions, hm. I'm not really sure how it started, but the factions in our school are not something big and scary like the name implies." She twirled her tea spoon around in the cup, looking at it thoughtfully.

"They are like study groups, right?" Kuroko said.

"You know that much? Well, I suppose you should, if you care to read up on the school at all before attending." Hitomi-san smiled again. "It's true; they are like a kind of study groups unique to this school and to Academy City. Students with similar powers naturally attract each other; it's easier to develop yourself when you can share experiences, tips and tricks with those of your kind."

Kuroko hmph'ed; she'd never met any other teleporter before, and still had managed to evolve to level four. Strictly speaking, she was not the right person to try and understand the need of co-operating with similar ability users. Also, she held little regard to those who thought more power meant they were better than everyone else (thus her dislike for those at the top tier).

"When trying to develop your power level, depending on the ability, you'll need different kinds of equipment and, of course, room." Hitomi-san continued. "As a lone student it's almost impossible to find anything outside what the school can offer. For most this is enough, but for those aiming even higher – and particularly those with long-range, psychic or destructive powers – it is necessary with outside help.

"The factions are a result of those students teaming up to gain greater influence; not all of the factions are of particular ability groups either. The biggest ones would be those I just mentioned – destructive, psychic, and long-rage abilities. Those factions accept any kind of ability as long as it is inside their respective main focus. There are several smaller factions too, like the Clairvoyance faction, but they are usually a bit more subdued." Hitomi-san took another sip of tea; she could as well pass as a teacher, complete with glasses and all.

"When students gain membership in a faction, they can use any equipment and facilities that faction has admittance to; they can also more easily gain access to new ones by using their faction's influence. Many of our students are high nobility in addition to being powerful espers, and the level of influence increases even further with that fact."

Kuroko's frown was deepening with every word. She could understand the need of facilities to develop ones abilities in; a pyrokinetic, for instance, would be a fool to try and experiment with his ability in the enclosed space of his own dorm room, and the more powerful one is, the harder it becomes to find vacant safe spots for practice.

However… "How come there seems to be some kind of silent war between those factions, then?" She asked. "If they truly are just like study groups or something similar, why the hostility?"

"Well, different factions may sometimes wish to use the same facility, or disagree on decisions the school has to make, in order to better fit their members' development." Hitomi-san explained. "That's where the student council comes in; they ultimately make those decisions, and act as peace-keepers between the more fierce factions."

"Hmm." Kuroko gazed into her teacup for a moment. Then she looked back up at Hitomi-san. "But that means the members of the student council needs to be neutral, right? You cannot belong to any faction."

"That's right…" Glancing downwards, her voice died down, and she was quiet for a few seconds; Kuroko looked at her in question. The blonde noticed, and perked again. "…Well, it's just, rumors that some of the student council members are in fact working with one of the factions… but it's just baseless rumors, of course. It's probably wrong." She shook her head and smiled. "Never mind."

Kuroko found it hard to not mind, but as she knew hardly anything about the student council or its members she had nothing to say on the matter. She had no problem imagining Asanuma-san working for some faction in secret though.

Deciding to not press the matter, she asked: "Won't that neutral position inconvenience you, though? Not getting access to all those facilities and what-not…"

"Mmm." Hitomi-san shook her head. "The student council is granted exclusive access to all of the school's facilities; also, they are treated a bit differently than the rest of the student body, certain privileges being part of that. Rather than worrying about my own development, I care for those students wishing to stay out of the faction war and go their own way. I think they need the same opportunities as the rest."

"Well, that makes sense, I guess." Kuroko said dryly. "Then, according to what you say, the bigger the faction is, and the more powerful its members is, the more influence it has both in our school and in the city as a whole."

"That's right. Nothing less from Shirai-san to grasp it so quickly." Hitomi-san smiled.

Kuroko didn't comment the praise. "Then, what about Misaka-san? She is level five, is she not? Surely any faction she belongs to would –"

"Ah, that's the gist of what I wanted to tell you." Hitomi-san interrupted, though it didn't feel like a rude act when it was her. "Misaka-san is acting independently: She belongs to no group, club or faction at all, and thus functions as a balancing power all on her own."

Kuroko frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Hitomi-san drew a small breath, "though any faction may grow really powerful and try to steer the whole school, they are still individuals with their personal abilities and power levels. If a faction were to try to enforce a set of regulations that Misaka-san – or the Queen, for that matter – doesn't approve of, and they oppose…" She smiled, giving a small sigh. "I don't think any of the current faction leaders would dare stand up to the overwhelming power of a level five. Also, they are regarded as the pride of the school; if forced to choose, the board of director's would surely weigh the voice of a level five over that of a desperate bunch of students."

Kuroko could very well imagine that hot-headed brat throw her power around to quell something she didn't like, and frowned. To be honest, that was just another reason to dislike the higher levels.

"Of course, they may try to recruit them," Hitomi-san continued, "but Misaka-san at least is very steadfast in her beliefs, and turns every single offer down, always with a smile. As a result, she's viewed almost like some sort of sacrificial being; anyone trying to get too close to her is labeled a spy or sneak trying to recruit her, and is thusly not exactly treated kindly – that's why, I think, she chooses to act neutral to everyone, never letting anyone too close."

Kuroko frowned, thinking back to her meetings with the rumored high level. That bored attitude, those biting remarks, and that blatant ignorance of the rules around her… _That's neutral?_

Hitomi-san smiled again. "And that's why I thought it was so great to see you interact so naturally with her; please don't be discouraged by what I've told you, and keep it up!"

Kuroko stared into her tea cup, feeling as if a whole new reality had opened itself in front of her. _This is Tokiwadai?_

XXX

"Alright, I've got it!" Ruiko announced this proudly as she suddenly pulled open the door to Kazari's dorm room – Kazari shrieked, standing in the middle of the floor in only her panties after having taken a shower. She had been planning on spending the evening in front of the TV with a big box of ice cream to soothe her let-down after the Judgment tests yesterday; nowhere in her plans was Saten-san meant to suddenly barge into her room.

"S-Saten-san, why are you here?" She asked, beet red as she tried to hide herself behind her towel.

"I've come to help my dearest friend back on her feet." Ruiko grinned, entering the room and closing the door behind her. "Where's your computer?"

"Um, it's over there…"

Kazari took the opportunity to dress while Ruiko pulled out the computer and turned it on. After a few clicks and taps, she turned the screen towards Kazari and said: "Lookie here, Uiharu! Make-up tests!"

Truly, there was the main page of the Judgment home page, and the top news was the announcement of make-up tests. Due to the amount of failed entrants, and the need for as many new Judgment members as possible, the higher-ups had decided to hold make-up tests this Friday. Usually when failing a test, you'd have to wait six months until the next set of tests were coming up.

Still… "I know." Kazari sighed, feeling a rock grow into her chest. She hadn't told anyone since she'd rather not think about it.

"Mhm!" Ruiko nodded. "That means, tomorrow morning we're starting your training!"

"W-what?"

XXX

"Where have you been?"

Konori-senpai's fierce glare was the first thing that met Kuroko when she entered their office later in the afternoon, and it followed her all the way to her seat, where she sat down in front of her computer.

"There was another robbery this afternoon, and I had to leave the office empty!" Konori continued. "Turns out it was just a couple of boys harassing one of their schoolmates too; no relation to the chameleon case." When she received no answer from her junior, she looked closer at the other girl. Kuroko was staring at the computer screen, obviously troubled by something.

Konori sighed again, her expression easing up. "Shirai-san."

"Eh?" Kuroko jolted out of her thoughts and looked up.

"Is everything alright at school lately?" Konori-senpai asked.

"Of course!" Kuroko huffed. "I am at the top of my class, after all!"

"I didn't particularly mean your grades, but I guess that's good." The senior Judgment member was smiling, a caring smile somehow reminiscent of Hitomi-san. Kuroko determinedly stared at her laptop again, frowning. She didn't really understand why, but she was suddenly feeling bothered by what went on at her school. The conversation with Hitomi-san had made her mind spin wild, and even though she really didn't want to care, she found herself wanting Hitomi-san to win over that vile third-year Asanuma-san.

"176th branch finally got around to help us narrow down the list of suspects in the robbery cases." Konori-senpai said. "Several of them had waterproof alibis; there's only nine left to check out."

"Hmm." Kuroko said, staring blankly ahead.

Konori sighed with a small smile. "Shirai-san."

"Eh?" Kuroko looked back at her, suddenly aware she'd drifted off again.

"Why don't you get some rest for today? I can hold the fort here for a while."

"Ah – but –" There was so much to do; the robbery cases was just the tip of the iceberg.

"No objections!" Konori-senpai said firmly. "I don't need a tired co-worker making a lot of mistakes in this case!"

"Gh." Kuroko gritted her teeth, but then relented; leaving the office again with her mind even more boggled than before. She would have a bad night of sleep tonight for sure.

* * *

Note:

The factions of Tokiwadai are briefly mentioned in novel no. 8 of the Index series. I took what little info was there, analyzed it and interpreted it into this. Hopefully it will give you a better grasp on Tokiwadai, like it did for me.

This turned out to be a rather talkative chapter. In fact, I find it so boring now that I contemplated putting in an exploding coffee machine just to liven things up. Of course, this is my biased view after having read this thing 3 million times since I wrote it; I found it really interesting the first few times =P So I hope you did too!

Action next time! Veri exciting!

PS: Free cookies to anyone who manages to guess which shop Kuroko and Hitomi-san visits. (Hint: Reading novel no. 8 might help you out, but is not necessary.)


	6. Chapter 6: Bullies in Different Shapes

**Chapter 6: Bullies in Different Shapes and Sizes**

The birds had hardly risen from their nests, just a few chirps here and there greeting the rising sun. Most students were still asleep and would be for a while yet, however there were already two figures at the track field outside Sakugawa middle school, dressed in the long-sleeved sweater and dark blue trousers that made up the school's gym uniform.

Kazari collapsed to her knees in the dirt, wheezing like a balloon going out of air; it felt like all the water in her body was evaporating at once, and she desperately tried to steady her own temperature before realizing that was not even possible.

"Hey there, why are you stopping?" Ruiko bellowed. She too was wearing gym clothes, but was not running; instead, she acted as some sort of personal coach from the sideline.

Kazari still heaved for breath, but looked up at the other girl. "Why do we have to do this so early in the morning?"

"We have no time to waste on sleep and other menial tasks!" Ruiko announced, shaking her fist determinedly. "We have to make sure you pass that test!"

"It's impossible!" Kazari cried. "I haven't even eaten breakfast yet!" Her stomach rumbled just as she said it.

"I've heard that when you're hard at training, you shouldn't eat much before you go all out." Ruiko said confidently.

"But I've read on the net that you should at least have the basic of nutrition in your system before– "

"You shouldn't believe everything you read on the net!"

Kazari groaned. "Somehow you saying that is…"

"We have no time to lose!" Ruiko claimed.

"It's impossible!" Kazari protested, still on her knees in the dirt. "My stomach is growling and my head is hurting! I can't possibly gain anything from this kind of training! Even if I run all I can for three days, I won't become good enough to pass the test!" Tears ran down her cheeks, and she brushed them away defiantly.

Ruiko looked at her with a solemn expression, observing the crying form for a few seconds, before a gentle smile formed on her face.

"Uiharu." She said, her voice lower, and she walked up to the other girl. Kazari hiccupped and tried drying her tears away, but they were just replaced by new ones. "Let's take a break and go have some breakfast, neh?"

XXX

_Why am I eating breakfast with these two?_ Kuroko glared sideways down the table, seeing the laughing face of Sumone-san and the strained grin of Misaka-san. An unpleasant feeling had settled in her guts, and she tsk'ed, piercing the food in front of her with her chopsticks.

It was a mystery to her, but apparently the combination of a lack of free tables and the fact that they had already been grouped up the day before, made the other girls think it natural for them to join for breakfast together.

Hitomi-san was smiling jovially from opposite her; it was frustrating how she managed to seem so cheerful even though they were accompanied by the two most annoying persons on Earth. Kuroko suspected she had invited them to join them in the first place.

"The food here is so luxurious!" Sumone-san twittered happily. "Of course, only the best would suit you, Misaka-sama!"

"Umm, yeah…" Misaka-san answered, hesitating only slightly before putting a piece of fried shrimp into her mouth. Kuroko kept glaring at her. If she was being sincere, she was doing a real bad job at showing it. Sumone-san had insisted on bringing her food, claiming that was the _least_ she could do for the ace of Tokiwadai – though why she should feel inclined to do anything at all was left unanswered. And it was obvious Misaka-san didn't like what she had been served. Kuroko found it hard to feel sorry for her though; if she wanted sympathy, she'd need to work on her personality first.

She wasn't the only one who noticed though. "Do you not like it?" Sumone-san gasped, her face paling rapidly.

"Ah – I do, it's quite – um…" Misaka-san grinned stupidly. Then she stared down onto her plate, and hastily forced another shrimp into her mouth. "It's delicious…" She smiled unconvincingly.

Kuroko smirked, and turned her head slightly. Giving the impression of talking to Hitomi-san, she said: "Did you know the word _shrimp_ originated from the German word _schrempen_, which means to contract or wrinkle?" Misaka-san instantly froze up, while Hitomi-san looked at her questioningly. "They say that if you're not careful when eating them, your skin will get all wrinkly even if you're as young as us."

"Ara, Shirai-san, you sure are knowledgeable!" Hitomi-san smiled.

"Of course," Kuroko said proudly, "my father works with one of the world's top leading sea food distributors; I learnt these things as soon as I could understand words." She glanced sideways at Misaka-san as she talked, and a smile appeared at her lips at the sight of the doubtful look the older student was throwing at her plate.

"Hmm, that's neat." Hitomi-san smiled.

XXX

Kazari jumped when a baseball bat suddenly smacked into the desk in front of her lunchbox. "Waah!"

Ruiko was grinning at her from above, and put the baseball bat on her shoulder. "Let's go run, Uiharu!" Her cheer was easily overheard by the entire classroom, as even through the chatter and laughter of their fellow classmates, Ruiko's voice was rather loud.

"What's the deal with the baseball bat?" Kazari asked, more concerned about that at the moment. Her heart was still thumping from the surprise.

"Motivation." Ruiko grinned.

A horrified feeling settled in Kazari's gut; _what the heck does she mean? _Was she going to beat her if she didn't run fast enough? Of course, doing such a thing was unthinkable to most people, but she'd already learned that this girl was not like most people.

Ruiko put a hand on her waist and grinned broadly. "More importantly, we don't have a minute to lose! Let's go!"

Kazari's stomach knitted itself, making her feel nauseates. Apart from the bat thing, she was still tired from the exercise this morning, and her motivation was anything but present. "Um, I'd like to eat my lunch first…" she tried carefully, and was slapped firmly in the back as a reward.

"No, no, you know eating right before training is not a good idea. How are you supposed to become world-class if you don't take this seriously?"

"I don't want to become world-class!" Kazari whined, already blushing. A couple of boys nearby snickered behind their hands, and she reddened even more, staring into her desk.

"Maa, maa." Ruiko grinned, slapping her back a couple more times. "With me as your personal coach, anything is possible! I may not have any esper abilities, but my coaching ability is unmatched!"

"Oh, that's true!" Shimawata-san suddenly said, appearing beside Ruiko. "She even coached me into looking at Inu's notes for the last history lesson!"

Kunita-san appeared behind her. "That's not coaching," she said, "it's persuasion, exploiting, and thievery! Give them back!" The tall girl fiercely grabbed Shimawata-san's collar, and the bespectacled girl made choking noises as they entered a grappling match.

Kazari sighed. "Your ability of disillusioning yourself is at least high level."

"If hallucination is what's needed to make you perform, then so be it!" Ruiko said fiercely.

"That is not what I said!"

"Just imagine yourself run as fast as the wind, and it will come true!"

"That's definitively not possible." Kazari protested, and felt her insides coil at the same time. She didn't want to run; she'd failed the test, and she'd rather not think about it at all. So she couldn't be a Judgment member; big deal! Shirai-san wouldn't want to work with such a slowpoke anyway!

Her lips trembled, and hot liquid gathered in her eyes. Suddenly she stood up, so abruptly that Ruiko stepped back in surprise.

Staring down in order to hide her tears, Kazari said levelly: "I'm going to the bathroom."

She exited the classroom before Ruiko could even form a coherent answer.

XXX

Whispering chuckles followed her down the hall after the last bell rang. Kazari did her best in ignoring it as she headed for the lockers to grab her gym clothes; Ruiko had left her no choice in the matter and told her to meet up at the track field after school.

_Wonder if she'll notice if I try to sneak away?_ But the thought alone made her heart heavy, and she felt like she wanted to sit down and cry more than anything. She was good with computers, with logic and information; running had always been her weak point. Well, that and every other physical training…

She sniffed when the burning sensation of tears threatened to well up again, and rubbed her sleeve over her eyes.

Someone bumped into her in the hallway.

"Oh, sorry," the person said, "you were walking so slowly I didn't see you."

She looked up at the grinning face of a boy from her parallel class – and recognized him as one of those bullies from that time with the upturned container. His friends were close by, watching and snickering amongst themselves.

"It's alright." She said, and walked on, only to trip over his extended foot and fall face flat on the floor. Someone giggled nearby; she wanted the world to end then and there.

"Oh my, I'm _so _sorry." He said, faking a surprised expression. "I didn't notice you were moving. Perhaps if you gained some _speed_…" his buddies chuckled loudly.

Kazari determinedly shut her tears in, and stood from the floor, dusting off her arms. Then she drew a deep breath, and turned around suddenly, glaring at the sneering guy.

"I know you guys are the ones doing all the destruction around here lately – even if you avoid the security cameras and pick only shops with low customer rate." She claimed loudly.

The boy looked around hastily; luckily for him, the major throng of students was already past, and no-one had been close enough to hear.

"So?" He sneered. "What are you going to do about it? You gonna _run _after us?"

They laughed again, and Kazari couldn't stop the tears from erupting.

"I will _arrest _you!" She cried.

"Yeah, sure you will!" One of the other boys said, rolling his eyes. "When we turn ourselves in!"

"You can't even pass the lousy Judgment test; what're you gonna do, blabber to them?"

"And if you do," the first guy said, stepping closer with a dark look on his face, "I swear to God you'll regret it."

She ignored the twisting feeling of fear in her gut.

"_You _are going to regret it!" She howled, and then turned around and ran down the hall, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Come on, come on, you can do it! Move your legs!" They cheered after her, and then laughed again; she shut their voices out and heard only her own sobs.

XXX

Kuroko was patrolling. Green armband stuck to her school jacket, auburn hair tied up in their usual pigtails and waving about with every step, she radiated pure business where she walked down the street. Any delinquent and criminal would take one look at her and shy away, seeing but the threat of a true Judgment member on patrol.

If not for the crepe in her hand, that is.

And the red and white-striped kitten that was following her footsteps closely, mewing constantly.

Kuroko gritted her teeth, shaking from suppressed stress. Fact was, the cat had been following her ever since she left the office. It had been sitting outside on the pavement and, when she exited the building, mewed and trudged after her. She'd hardly noticed at first, her mind already occupied by thoughts and impressions from school, but the constant mewing soon penetrated her thoughts and made her patience run thinner and thinner.

She had been thinking about useless things in the first place, so perhaps it was supposed to be a good thing. For some reason, she saw that Asanuma Reiko everywhere, quite literally too; her posters hung all over school, and the upcoming election seemed to be a topic on every corner. The more she thought about it, the more she wished Hitomi-san would end up winning. And if that wasn't enough, she kept imagining the face of that other stupid second-year all the time, and the conversation with Hitomi-san at the café yesterday.

It was _really_ annoying.

She had hoped that a patrol could take her mind off things, and then tried a crepe to see if _that_ helped, but in the end, the only thing she managed to do was irritate herself over everything.

And the cat was still mewing every few seconds. Which could drive any sane person to the brink of damnation.

"Meow, meow, meeow…"

Kuroko suddenly turned around, as if planning to sprint down the street, and glared at the red and white-striped animal. "Please start the second verse already!"

Her bellow attracted quite the attention from those passing by, but she did not notice. She glared at the cat, which sat nonchalantly on the road, cocking its head as it looked up at her. "Mew?"

"How long are you going to follow me?" Kuroko barked. "I do not have any food for you! Please show respect for the Judgment in this city!"

And yet the cat just sat there, watching her with its black cat-eyes.

"Gh." She pulled back a notch, as if dodging a strike. It was not like she didn't like animals. Rather, she didn't feel any particular emotion towards them. They were there, it was fine. But when challenged by an annoying creature like this, even Kuroko showed a hidden side of herself.

However, staying calm and thinking strategically was the most important skill for a Judgment member, and Kuroko was proud of her adept skill at doing so. She drew a deep breath to calm herself, closing her eyes softly. There had to be a way to escape. At first she'd expected the animal to grow tired and stop following all on its own, but it had already been fifteen minutes, and even now it sat there patiently, as if waiting for her to continue walking.

But Kuroko was not a level four esper for no reason. _All right._ Her mind was settled. She concentrated, and instantly disappeared from the spot, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in her wake. Appearing at a corner further down the street, she looked back and saw the cat looking back and forth, as if confused at her disappearance. _Hah, try following me now!_ She smirked, and prepared to bite into her crepe.

That was when she noticed the puppy sitting in front of her, wagging its tail and staring, wide-eyed, at the treat in her hand. It was bound to the outside of a shop, probably waiting for its owner to return.

Kuroko stared at it. It stared back. Her hands shook. The dog whimpered. She gritted her teeth. The puppy stood up, as if anticipating something to happen.

It was just too much for a poor, stressed-out Judgment member.

Kuroko suddenly cried out and tossed the crepe to the ground with a splat. "Here, take it! Damn you!"

And she teleported again, leaving behind several staring pedestrians.

XXX

In the safety of a locked stall door, Kazari sat crying on the closed toilet with her knees dragged up under her chin. She hadn't gone to her locker, hadn't brought out her gym clothes – she didn't see any reason to. It was obvious to anyone she would never be able to pass that stupid test, and trying too hard would only result in the defeat hurting even more.

She dug her face into her arms and sniffed as silently as possible, not wanting anyone to hear her. _If Rin was here…_ she hiccupped as the image of her former best friend showed up in her mind. She'd really thought they were best friends – they did everything together, and always had a good time. They even decided to go to Sakugawa middle school together. And then during Spring break, she didn't see Rin for a week, and when she finally did, the other girl told her she'd changed her mind and would go to another school, in another district. Just like that.

Kazari had cried for days. Rin never said why, and they hadn't spoken since. Within a week, a seven-year long friendship ended. It hurt her chest to think about it; she missed Rin, even if her heart also filled with an unexplainable anger whenever she thought of her. _Why didn't she say anything? Why did she change her mind at the last minute?_

The truth was, Kazari knew why. The thought was horrible, and thus she'd rather not think about it and instead threw those questions around in her mind endlessly. But deep down in the recesses of her mind, she knew. There was another girl in their class, one that had tried to split apart her and Rin for years. She didn't like Kazari, and Rin was cool, pretty, and nice – everyone wanted to be her friend.

Rin had started at the same school as that girl.

It was devastating. Had she been in her right mind, she would have even blamed her failure at the Judgment test on this. Rin had urged her on, she had been the main culprit behind getting her to try for joining Judgment in the first place, and supported her all the way – and then she suddenly left. But truthfully, by now Kazari didn't want to join Judgment solely because of Rin's urgings, it was more because of the promise she'd made with Shirai-san. Actually, that might be the only thing right now.

And yet, she'd failed. Shirai-san would be appalled; surely she'd laugh and say they'd never be able to work together like that. Shirai-san was athletic and smart; she knew having a handicapped co-worker would never benefit her at all.

The door to the girl's bathroom opened again; it was the third time since she came here. She stilled, hoping whoever it was that needed to do their bidding would hurry up and get out quickly.

Footsteps walked over the floor for a bit and then stopped, as if their owner was unsure of where to go. _There's a row of free stalls; just choose one!_

"Uiharu?" Saten-san's voice sounded through the door. Kazari twitched slightly, her chest constricting and lifting up at the same time.

_Saten-san… _the image of Rin was fading in her mind.

A deep sigh escaped from her classmate. "I guess I'll go check the boy's bathroom…" She turned to leave; Kazari heard her footsteps near the entrance. _Don't…_ "Don't go!" She cried, and instantly hiccupped, realizing she'd said it out loud.

Ruiko stopped again. "Aah, so you _are _in here."

Kazari stood up and shakily unlocked the stall door, before exiting the cramped space. Standing in front of the longhaired girl, her eyes red and puffy, she felt ridiculously childish. Ruiko turned towards her and smiled gently, before walking forwards and enveloping the flower-decorated girl in a hug.

"You never showed up, so I got worried. I've checked all over school, and was starting to think you'd gone home!"

Tears flowed out of Kazari's eyes, and she buried her face in Ruiko's shoulder. "I can never become a Judgment member!" She sobbed. "I'm too slow, too stupid, and besides, I'm only a level one; even if I do get admitted, I'll just blunder up everything I do and get kicked out!"

"Aaah, such harsh words," Ruiko said, "and it kinds of hurt too, you know; I can't even try to become a Judgment, since you have to have an ability…"

Kazari simply continued to cry into her shoulder, and she sighed, hugging her even closer. "But even if I can't, I think it's awesome how you gave it your all." Her voice was gentle, like a calming wave over Kazari's upset emotions. "Even though you say you're horrible at running, at least you _tried_… that's more than many others would have done."

She pushed Kazari back, looking at the hiccupping and sniveling girl with a small smile. Then suddenly, she grinned. "And I know you can do it, Uiharu!"

"W-why?" Kazari asked, trying to dry her tears on her sleeve.

Ruiko smiled proudly. "Because you're my best friend, and I believe in you!"

Kazari's breath hitched, and her eyes widened. "R-really?"

"M-hm." Ruiko nodded, still grinning. "It's too early to give up yet, don't you think? There's the make-up test at Friday – if you fail that too, I'll allow you to cry as much as you want. Until then, though, you should give it your best shot, and you'll see; you'll turn out victorious!" She clenched her fist in a victory pump.

"It's not a competition you know…" Kazari said, but a small smile was forming around her lips. Ruiko's words warmed her stomach. She didn't really feel ready to call anyone her best friend again just yet, but this weird girl...

"Even so, it'll be easier to train for it if we imagine it is." Ruiko said, confidently slapping a hand on her shoulder. "So, how about we do a few laps today, and then go out shopping?"

Kazari smiled back. "M-hm!"

…this weird girl might just be the closest to being one right now.

XXX

_I was totally put off by that vile creature_. Kuroko grumbled to herself as she walked on through the park. _In the first place, allowing myself to get so put out by it is…_

She sighed deeply, passing by a T-junction in the paved park road, and looked up when she heard laughter. Her eyes caught the forms of a couple of boys up ahead; they were seemingly practicing their levitation skills on what seemed to be a furry ball hovering several meters in the air. She frowned, recognizing the hairball. It had red and white stripes and was mewing helplessly. Her eyebrow twitched. _Honestly…_

Stepping forward, she teleported into the air and grabbed the annoying kitten, before landing elegantly on the ground. The boys jumped in surprise, and stared at her when she turned around and watched them with solemn eyes.

"This is Judgment." She said in an almost bored tone of voice. "Please refrain from misusing your powers to hurt animals." The cat mewed in her arms, perhaps giving its consent.

"Tch. A little girl." One of the boys said, folding his arms in front of his chest after shaking off his initial surprise. He looked like he was a year or two younger than her, though probably regarded himself as ten times tougher. "Don't you have a tea party to go to?"

"You will be fined for your treatment of the cat." Kuroko said. "Please give me your names, school and class."

"Or else what?" The guy spat. "You'll make your big brother beat us?"

"If you won't follow my instructions willingly, I will have to make you."

"Like hell you will!" His face grimaced in concentration; Kuroko felt her feet lift off the ground by barely a centimeter.

Without as much as a blink, she teleported, and landed behind him. The other boy jumped away in surprise, and when the one with the levitate ability turned around, he was met by a hand to his forehead; in the next instant, he fell half a meter to the ground, hitting it back first with a thud.

"You bastard! You think you're gonna beat us just because you're high level?" The other boy raised his fist and missed her entirely with his punch when she stepped sideways. She then grabbed his arm, and used his own momentum to flip him on his back. The cat mewed cheerfully in her arms.

"Your charges just rose to include assault." She said levelly. "You will do wise in remaining calm. Also, I can easily take out someone of your level without using any special abilities at all. Anyone who relies solely on their ability to win a fight is sure to lose sooner or later." She smiled crookedly; her words ringing true. Academy City was swarmed by people who thought everyone else always relied on their ability alone. Knocking them back down to earth now and then was an important and satisfying job.

The boys gritted their teeth, perhaps miffed at being ridiculed by a small girl with a kitten in her arms, but didn't seem to be interested in fighting her any more. Honestly, they seemed too young to be delinquents, but they did come in all shapes and sizes.

"You are under arrest for animal abuse and assault," Kuroko said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs from her pocket. "Please stay still and –"

"Gh – run!" They both stood and ran; Kuroko gaped in shock.

"Wha – wait!" She yelled, but they were sprinting for their lives. She teleported in front of them, and the guy with the levitate ability split off, running down another path, while his buddy halted and looked back and forth between them before bolting the other way – and he was suddenly running way too fast for a normal human being. _Dash-?_

"Stop!" Kuroko shouted, and hesitated for a moment – a moment that became too long, as they both disappeared from her sight. She was left staring after them, feeling like a fool, and still shocked at what had happened. _I really ought to have some means of keeping them down… _She had never thought about it before, having just recently started doing proper arrests and the sort.

The kitten mewed in her arms, as if offering her its thoughts. She bit her lip, not sure what her next move should be. She could let them go and check the surveillance cameras to find their faces back at the office, but the work of getting the proper permission, and the process of identifying them and tracking them down afterwards was just…

_CRACKLE_; suddenly there was an amazing sound of splitting electricity somewhere to her right, and what to do seemed quite obvious.

* * *

Note:

Who's the real bullies here, I wonder.

So basically, this is supposed to be mainly a Ruiko and Kazari chapter, but I dunno if I succeeded with that xD I like those two as well, but sadly, they're not quite as… Err… As the other two. Anyway, I hope you liked it! =)

(And don't come here and say you didn't get action! Look! Kuroko had to slap some kids over their heads!)

Next time: …nah, don't feel like spoiling.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews =) I don't care if they consist of "lol niz chap" or is ten pages long in fluent Japanese (though I wouldn't be able to read it if that was the case), just the fact that you're reading and enjoying the story is more than enough for me =D (well, in fact I do care, if you have a lot to tell me I love reading it!) What you're thinking right then and there is what interests me the most; are the readers left with the impressions I was hoping to induce? Thanks to all of you who have shared your thoughts so far!


	7. Chapter 7: Oneesama

**Chapter 7: Onee-sama**

Following the sound, Kuroko appeared at a clearing in the park; this time there was no animal abuse. There was human abuse. And it was already over.

"Really, barging ahead like that – look what you made me do." With a somewhat annoyed expression on her face, one hand put on her waist and the other scratching her head, Misaka-san gazed at a boy lying smoking and twitching on the ground. It was the boy who had been levitating the annoying cat, and he seemed to be knocked out cold.

Kuroko wanted to smack her face into the ground. _Somehow I'm lucky and unlucky at the same time…_

"Oh," Misaka-san noticed her there, and smiled brilliantly, "Shirai-san! How lucky; could you clean up this mess, please?" She gestured at the heap on the ground.

Kuroko only fumed back. "You – _yoou..._!" Once again, this moron with an oversized ego had shown no restraints in tossing her power around; really, she was so full of herself it radiated from her very aura. How come she seemed totally different outside school?

"You're just as cheerful as always." The older girl muttered. "Anyhow, this guy here seems to be in need of medical attention; he suddenly crashed into me and I kind of reacted on instinct…" She gazed pityingly at the unconscious form on the ground. "You really ought to look where you're going, you know?" She sighed.

"You moron!" Kuroko shouted, her stressed nerves finally getting the better of her. Stomping forward and thrusting a finger into Misaka-san's chest, she scowled; "Please refrain from misusing your ability to hurt other people!" _Didn't I just give this lecture already?_

Misaka-san huffed and shoved her hand away, and then noticed the bundle of fur in her arm; "Ah –" her face split into a gigantic smile, "a kitten!"

Kuroko was shocked at being so utterly ignored. Even more shocking, though, was Misaka-san's expression; like a child running down the stairs to find a mountain of presents on Christmas Eve, her face filled with indescribable happiness, and Kuroko could swear even her eyes were sparkling.

The cat mewed.

"Aah, how cute!" Misaka-san squealed, smiling brightly at the red-coated devil. "What's your name, kitty?" She bent forward and put her finger forth as if to cuddle it; the cat pulled back suddenly and mewed loudly. "Aha, sorry, I know, it's scary, right?" Misaka-san laughed.

Kuroko was dumb-struck. Suddenly this bored-looking, barking second-year student was conversing with this small animal with unconditioned love written all over her face.

That expression was somehow… "Childish." She snorted.

"Guh –" Misaka-san jolted and reddened considerably. Then she huffed, putting a hand on her waist. "Whatever." She turned around and walked on down the road; "I didn't come here to listen to your insults either way. I trust you already know I was the victim this time, right?"

Kuroko could hardly speak, staring at her arrogant back with a fuming anger in her mind; it felt as if her throat had constricted itself. Instead of trying to force out any useless words, she pulled out her phone and called Anti-Skill.

XXX

Luckily, Anti-Skill accepted the ordeal as self-defense on Misaka-san's part, and the officer seemed quite relieved that it was too. Kuroko doubted Misaka-san would have let herself be arrested willingly, and guessed that if someone like the Railgun said no, even Anti-Skill would have trouble forcing her into it. Looking at it from that point of view, perhaps it was a good thing that there were only seven level fives in the city. Then again, surely not all of them were as ignorant of rules and common etiquette as this one.

"You can't just do whatever you want!"

While Kuroko yelled at her, Misaka-san stood in front of the vending machine at the lower part of the park, staring at it with hands on her hips and a thoughtful expression on her face.

There was no reason for Kuroko to approach her and start another conversation. The boy was apprehended by Anti-Skill (being so young he wouldn't really be arrested, of course), the cat was delivered to the baffled officer, and she'd given her explanation. In fact, Kuroko was free to leave now. Yet she still seemed to have something to discuss with the upperclassman.

"In that case you should work on arriving earlier." The aloof second-year sighed, stretched her neck to both sides, and then suddenly span on the spot; with a fierce cry she delivered a powerful kick to the side of the vending machine, resounding in a loud _THWANK_. Kuroko gaped while the noise of a falling can erupted from the machine, and Misaka-san bent down to pick it up.

She looked at the can with a frown, sighed and opened it.

Then she noticed Kuroko's appalled expression.

"You should try smiling, you know. Your charm would up tenfold." She offered her advice and sipped the drink nonchalantly.

Kuroko's mind had melted from the work of processing all the impressions it'd just gotten. While the act of kicking a vending machine to make it spit out its goods was obscure in itself, doing it so nonchalantly in front of a Judgment member was even more mind baffling. And yet, this was nothing, _nothing_, to what had just been revealed to the pigtailed Judgment member. This other thing was a giant rupture in her general knowledge of the world; it contradicted every norm in society, it was not fit for a lady of Tokiwadai, it was, in fact, unheard of amongst women and men alike:

"Nobody wears _shorts _under their skirt!" Her screech might have carried several hundred meters with the decibel she reached.

Misaka-san choked and turned on her, red-faced. "Don't you know it's common etiquette to look away?"

"Shorts… under… your skirt!" Kuroko was unable to completely comprehend it. As a girl who carefully planned her wardrobe of underwear, the thought of putting something so indelicate as a pair of shorts over them seemed utterly appalling. She stared at the skirt in question, almost anticipating the garment to come jumping out like a spring-in-the-box. "How did you even _think_ of doing something like that? Don't go talking about _common etiquette_ while wearing such a thing!"

"It's not _that_ weird." Misaka-san huffed, a slight pink tinting her cheeks. "It's easier to move around in, and I don't have to worry about anyone's eyes being in the wrong place. And please stop staring like that! What are you, some kind of pervert?"

"You wouldn't have to worry about anyone looking if you just acted like normal people and _paid_ for your drink!" Kuroko accused. If it wasn't one thing, it was something else, or _everything at once_. This girl was indeed one of the seven mysteries of Academy City.

"Aah, well," Misaka-san said, swishing the can so the contents made a rippling sound, "if something isn't working properly, a correctly aimed 45 degree kick will make it shape up, like they teach in school. This city is overflowing with experimental doodads, and they all seem to go haywire at some point. Like this vending machine; it eats your money. You'd do good to remember that." She delivered a lecture like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and then gulped down the rest of the drink in one long swig.

"I find it hard to believe Tokiwadai teaches those things." Kuroko said dryly. "At any rate, if you keep up such absurd behavior, people will think you're a maniac or something."

"Hm? Why?" Misaka-san asked, looking at her with an honestly wondrous expression.

"If you don't realize, that's even worse!"

"Well, doing something about the problem is better than whining about it, don't you think?" Misaka-san said, putting the can into the recycling bin beside the vending machine. "I figure the machine might one day start functioning properly if I just hit the right spot. No luck so far…"

Kuroko's eyebrows twitched. This girl was beyond help… "How come the ace of Tokiwadai is acting so childish?" She muttered.

"You're younger than me you know!" Misaka-san huffed. "And where do you get off calling me 'ace' and whatever anyway?"

"Is that not what you are supposed to be?"

"_Supposed_, neh?" She sighed deeply, like the sigh you would let out after having been thoroughly disappointed by the last episode of your favorite show. "It's a sad thing, really, how your ability level controls what kind of social status you have as well."

Kuroko's eyes widened slightly.

"As if I enjoy having all those first-years fighting for my attention everywhere I go." Misaka-san continued, in an annoyed tone. "Even if I turn down one, another instantly bugs me with something else. 'Misaka-sama, please join our club!', 'Misaka-sama, please sign my textbook!', 'Misaka-sama, please teach me how to reach level five!'. What, do they think of me as some kind of saint with an ungodly amount of energy and time and the ability to grant wishes to boot?"

She glared at the vending machine in front of her as if it was at fault. "Every day is the same; some girls I've never even seen before giggling and blushing in the hallways as if I'm some bishounen from their favorite shoujo manga; I don't need all their opinions on today's menu and how none of the food would fit my exquisite taste, I don't care if some Belgian named Walter Van Beirendonck released a new clothes collection last week, and what the hell is up with throwing themselves into my arms all of a sudden, claiming the world will end if I don't respond to their icky love letters! Arrrgh, it's so damn _annoying_!"

She raised her knee and _WHAM!_ delivered another forceful kick to the poor machine, the rattling sound telling them another can had just popped down into the tray. In the silence that followed, only Misaka-san's heavy breath was heard.

Kuroko was watching the display with a deadpan expression on her face. She'd at first been surprised that the airhead considered levels and status as two separate things, however that surprise had passed and left a rather mixed impression of the older girl. She remembered what Hitomi-san had said at the café; watching this second-year student heaving for breath after her kindergarten grade tantrum, it was hard to imagine her being mature enough as to choose her ground in such a neutral way like the blonde girl had described. Certainly it was a coincidence. She was just stubborn, doing _everything_ her own way. Her "neutral" position was, no doubt, merely a result of that.

The stubborn mule continued in a mutter: "And that stupid 'guidance' match-up with that irritating –" she cut off abruptly, suddenly looking at Kuroko, "ah, I mean… she's your roommate, isn't she…?" She grinned sheepishly, the former annoyance seemingly lost already.

Kuroko hmph'ed. "I'd be better off with a single-room."

"Really?" She looked genuinely surprised. "I guess you're more normal than I thought."

"I am absolutely normal! A bipolar hooligan making a habit of kicking vending machines out of nowhere is not the right person to talk of normalcy anyway."

"_Bipolar hooligan_?"

"You certainly would do well to think before acting." Kuroko claimed. "As the representative of our entire school and the role-model to so many young girls you hold an enormous responsibility in your hands. You cannot just use your ability on anyone and steal from public services and –"

"I never asked for that kind of responsibility, and why are _you_ giving it to me anyway?" Her face had grown red all of a sudden.

"Because it seems you have failed to notice by yourself! Talking about bishounens and manga without a care –"

"You totally missed the point! I said –"

"MEOW." A high-pitched sound interrupted their conversation, and Misaka-san cut off abruptly and looked down at something around Kuroko's feet.

"Hm?" The longhaired girl looked down as well, and saw the kitten from before rubbing at her feet. Her face turned aghast, and she hurriedly looked back to where Anti-Skill had been just moments ago. They were gone. _They let this furball escape-? _

Misaka-san looked at the creature too. "Is it yours?" She asked, rather reluctant.

_I swear, this demon is following me around… _Strictly speaking, taking care of animals was a job for Judgment rather than Anti-Skill, but she had been hoping to get rid of the bother when she thrust it into the hands of the officer back there. No such luck. She huffed and picked the mewing oddball up by its neck.

"You shouldn't lift it like that!" Misaka-san spluttered, reaching out as if she was going to grab the cat, though the animal shrunk away from her fingers and meowed loudly.

"I doubt it will lose any of its lives." Kuroko planted the mewing kitten in her arms, and then looked up at the other girl. "You like cats?"

"Eh?" Misaka-san pulled back and stared at the creature, a telltale blush spreading over her cheeks. Then she hurriedly looked away. "N-no, I don't particularly care for them."

Kuroko smirked. Enticingly, she started stroking the cat over its back; it stretched and purred contently, and Misaka-san obviously couldn't help but throw it a look, a slight pink coloring her face. Kuroko sighed theatrically. "I guess such an indelicate girl as yourself would never see the true beauty of the feline lineage."

Misaka-san gritted her teeth, the pink in her cheeks reddening. "What's your problem? Ever since we first met you've done nothing but insult me! Do you have a death wish or something?"

"My, resorting to petty threats." Kuroko sniffed. "I thought you prided yourself with acting neutral with everyone. How come you're so childish around me?"

Misaka-san was obviously taken aback at this, but her stubbornness was truly something to behold. She didn't back down at all. "That's – because you're acting like an annoying little sister!"

"Oh really," she said, an arrogant smirk around her lips. "Then perhaps I should start calling you 'Onee-sama' to illustrate our familiarity."

"W-why would you draw a conclusion like that?" Misaka-san seemed slightly panicky now.

"Isn't that what all you upperclassmen prefer us to call you by?"

"Of course not!"

"Ara, _Onee-sama_, at your age you'll get wrinkles if you frown like that!" Kuroko delivered her a beaming smile.

"Ghh – you're seriously -!" A blue charge suddenly crackled from her bangs, and Kuroko's eyes widened just slightly. The electric charge in itself was not much of a threat, but… had she just initiated a fight with the Railgun? Though the challenge would surely be refreshing, it could turn out to be a bit too much for her to handle. She'd heard stories about how amazing the 'electric princess' of Tokiwadai was (it was impossible to ignore _everything_ her classmates were talking about, after all).

Then again, Kuroko didn't doubt her ability of teleporting out of danger for even one second. If worst came to worst, she'd show no hesitation in taking the upperclassman head on – and if Misaka-san counted on raw power, Kuroko would beat her with strategy and wits.

Regaining her confidence, the pigtailed girl smirked and leaned closer in challenge. "My, what a scary face. Are you sure you're taking on the right opponent, though? Kuroko has quite a few tricks up her sleeve."

Misaka-san didn't seem too impressed, as more electric sparks erupted from her bangs. "I'll fry that grin off your face!"

There was a loud _CRACKLE_; Kuroko instantly teleported to the top of the vending machine, and the electricity dissipated in thin air while Misaka-san looked around in bewilderment. It had seemed like a spear of electricity had erupted from her fringe; Kuroko figured this was not the right time to ask whether it was in fact her hair that produced the electricity.

"Hah." She said tiredly, giving away her position. Misaka-san turned and looked up at her.

"Wah – teleport?" She said incredulously.

"Indeed," Kuroko smiled, "not even Tokiwadai's Railgun can hit a target that instantly moves up to eighty meters in any direction, now can you?"

Misaka-san gritted her teeth, and Kuroko smiled confidently. "But really, throwing lightning at people; it's attempted homicide, I tell you."

"It's not enough to kill anyone!"

"You would even risk hurting this cute little kitten?" She looked down at the animal with exaggerated sorry.

"Gh –" Misaka-san hesitated, staring at the cat with an expression torn between anger and worry.

"Ahah, you really do like cute things, don't you?" Kuroko said, a slight glee in her voice. She remembered the Gekota figure dangling from the other's schoolbag; it seemed like a very out of character trait for this hot-headed moron.

"Guh –" Misaka-san instantly reddened again, and defiantly stomped her foot. "O-of course not! I don't think it's cute at all!"

"Ara, Onee-sama, how can you utter such cold-hearted words?" She put a hand to her lips as if in shock, smirking at the other's obvious lie.

"That's _Misaka-san_, you moron!" Misaka-san's face was glowing a delicious shade of red by now.

"Well then," she curtsied briefly, "I'll let your vandalism to the vending machine slide for now, however I will not promise to be as docile next time. See you tomorrow, Onee-sama."

"I_ said_ _DON'T_ _CALL ME_ THAT!"

But Kuroko was already gone, and the vending machine was the sole receiver of a frustrated electric shock.

XXX

"A lost cat?" Konori-senpai eyed the creature in Kuroko's arms skeptically.

Kuroko sighed. Just like Konori-senpai to not even offer a single "welcome back" before cutting right to the chase. She had just entered the office after returning from her adventure in the park.

"It was being harassed by a couple of boys," she said, "Anti-Skill would not take it, and so we're stuck with having to find its owners." She opted for the short version. The part where she met up with and had a refreshing duel of words with the moron was best left unsaid.

"Well then, just scan the registration tag and get done with it." The senior Judgment member turned back to her computer screen.

"Hai, I was planning on that." Kuroko said, not even the stressed mood of her senior able to ruin her good spirits. She took the mewing kitten over to their stationary server – at the moment a vacant working place, as both Kuroko and Konori-senpai used their own laptops instead of sitting at the computer with five screens.

She logged onto the pet registry system and picked up the scanning pistol (they'd bought one after they grew tired of bringing every single lost cat and dog to the veterinary to scan them there). In her mind, she still saw Misaka-san's red face, and she chuckled silently. _To think she was that easily agitated!_ It hardly fit the image of a composed, delicate lady that was flying around school. Of course, she already knew that. _Though_ _honestly, she ought to take her position more seriously_. _She's too loud, stubborn and short-tempered. Ignoring common etiquette, spouting whatever hits her mind, showing off her electric attacks at every chance -!_ She frowned and aimed the scanning pistol at the kitten's neck and pushed the trigger.

Nothing happened.

_If she's really a level five and Tokiwadai's ace, she should know her actions have an impact on the entire school's reputation. Besides, doesn't she care about her _own_ reputation? _Her frown deepened, and she tried the pistol again.

Nothing.

_What's up with this -! _She pushed the scanning device deep into the kittens neck, making it mew in pain. The pistol was suddenly yanked away from her hand.

"You're hurting him!" Konori-senpai said, grasping the pistol tightly.

"Well, it would not read the tag!" Kuroko complained, feeling stubborn. Going straight from being in a good mood, she now felt like she was on the brink of throwing a tantrum. And it was all that idiot's fault.

"Jeez, you just do it like this." Konori turned the pistol around and pointed it at the cat's neck – only to have nothing happen. "Eh?"

Kuroko fought hard not to spit out an arrogant "See?", and instead pressed her lips tightly together.

"Perhaps the tag is put somewhere else." Konori said, and her face turned expressionless as she concentrated. Kuroko recognized the sign of her senior using her x-ray vision. With that they would without doubt find the registration tag, which should be located right underneath the skin of the animal somewhere.

However, Konori-senpai looked troubled as she scanned the creature. "How strange. There's no tag anywhere."

Kuroko gazed at the kitten (who seemed to care very little as it just sat on the desk and licked its paw) with a frown. By the laws of Academy City, every single animal, no matter what kind, was required to be tagged electronically. The tag would be programmed with the animal's unique serial number, it's current owners, and it's origin.

Basically, without the tag…

"We can't find the owners like this." Kuroko stated the obvious.

Konori-senpai sighed. "Indeed. As for animal shelters…" Her sentence dwindled into nothing. Animal shelters in Academy City were not free; due to the fact that every animal was tagged, even if Judgment had to keep a pet in custody for a few days, they'd just deliver it to a shelter, and the owner would receive the bill when they came to pick it up. Basically, the higher-ups in Academy City figured people should take care of their pets, and would not spend tax-payer's money on providing free shelters.

But without the tag, no shelter would accept it. Not only would it be a hassle for them to find the owners, but they'd have no guarantee of getting paid; thus, even if they accepted to take care of it, Judgment would most likely receive the bill. And what if it stayed there for weeks and weeks?

"What a bother." Kuroko huffed.

Konori-senpai put a hand to her chin. "We could take pictures of it and make a flyer for our info screens around town. If we're lucky, the owners might call."

Just the thought of doing something like that made Kuroko feel even less thrilled. _I should have handed it over to Misaka-san._ She imagined the look on the other girls' face when she was suddenly stuck with a kitten in her hands, and smirked. _Then again, the cat seemed utterly uncomfortable in her presence… _

She hadn't even asked why, but she guessed it had something to do with Misaka-san's ability. She seemed to remember reading a theory somewhere that the bodies of high level electromasters constantly produced electricity, making animals steer clear of them (come to think of it, that theory was most likely based on Misaka-san). Really, what a hassle to not even be able to pet a kitten, knowing you might hurt it… She suddenly imagined Misaka-san joyfully petting a purring cat, and a burning heat filled her face. She shook her head fiercely.

"If I am to judge by the color on your cheeks, that shaking of your head is not in denial of my suggestion, though I might be wrong of course." Konori-senpai said dryly.

Kuroko huffed again, turning her head away and squeezing the image of Misaka-san out of her head.

"Well, even if we do that, what do we do about the cat in the meantime?" She asked. "It's not like we can spend all our time searching for his owners, with so many suspects left to check out…"

Konori-senpai gazed at the cat contemplatively. "We can't leave him in the office either…"

"Pets are forbidden in our dormitory; there is no way I can bring him there." She could just imagine Sumone-san's expression if she showed up – after curfew – with a kitten in her arms. It would almost be worth it just to see her reaction…However, most likely the dorm mistress would take her head off before she could get as far as the stairs.

"No help then; I'll take care of him in the meantime." Konori announced, and as if to demonstrate, picked the cat up from the table. "Though we really ought to find some time to help him…" She gazed at the purring animal thoughtfully.

"What we really ought to do is recruit some more members," Kuroko said dryly, "with only the two of us it's…" She stopped abruptly.

"Huh?" Konori-senpai looked at her, almost in concern.

"The Judgment tests…" Hadn't they been this weekend? Between everything that had been going on, she'd had no time to think about it at all. It was already Tuesday; the results would be long done.

"Ah…" Konori-senpai said, "yes, there were some new recruits, but they've all been assigned to different branches who has more work than us."

Kuroko tsk'ed; as if they didn't have enough to do. Of course, they did in fact have more members at branch 177, but the others hardly ever showed up at work and Kuroko did not regard them as proper members at that. "What about Uiharu Kazari?"

"Who?"

"She took the tests – her wish was to work in this particular branch, so…" They hadn't put her in another branch as well, right? And in that case, the girl would have told her, right? Come to think of it, why hadn't she heard from her at all?

"Ah – let's see." Konori sat down in front of her laptop with the kitten safely pressed to her chest, and Kuroko stood behind her, looking over her shoulder. Konori-senpai went into the Judgment databanks, and after a few clicks, opened the results of the Judgment tests to their eyes. There had been 195 entrants; out of those, only 79 had passed all the tests. The announcement of make-up tests was at the very top; with more than 200 branches to fill in, 79 new recruits was way too few for satisfaction. Most likely they'd hog a few more members with the make-up tests.

"Uiharu…" Konori searched down the list, and found the name at last. "There! Uiharu Kazari…" Her face turned solemn.

"…failed." Kuroko read. Her chest felt really heavy all of a sudden – she stared at the result sheet, not even curious as to why she had failed, or what test it had been that made her downfall; remembering their training in second district, she guessed it could be any of the physical tests (or all).

"Ah, that's too bad…" Konori said, pushing her glasses up her nose, and rubbed the cat's back.

Kuroko pulled out her cell phone and found Uiharu's number. There were a few rings; then it was answered.

"Sh-Shirai-san!" Uiharu's puffing voice erupted from the phone.

"Uiharu, I just found out the result of the Judgment tests." Kuroko said, voice void of any emotion.

"Eeeeh…" The other girl heaved for breath, "really…"

"Hai." She listened for a few seconds to the heaving breath of the other girl, frowning. What the heck was she doing? She could hear someone calling in the background, but couldn't make out any words.

"I assume you know of the make-up tests at Friday." She said at last.

"Hai…" The flowery girl gasped. "But… I don't know if I can make it…" Her voice dwindled, and she gasped for breath again.

"Are you running, or something?" Kuroko asked, hoping she wouldn't receive "something" as an answer.

"Hai, I am!" Uiharu reported hurriedly. "I am!"

"Well, that's good." She muttered. "We are drowning in work here." She looked pointedly at Konori-senpai who was busy playing with the kitten. "We could really use another co-worker."

"R-really?" Uiharu said, a bit apprehensive. "You still…?"

"And that's why…" Kuroko drew her breath; "you better_ PASS NEXT TIME!_"

Uiharu shrieked in surprise at the sudden bellow.

"Hai!"

XXX

"Hey, Uiharu, put away that phone and start kicking some dust!" Ruiko called from the bench to the side of the track field, waving her baseball bat around in the air. Kazari huffed, but smiled briefly; her spirits having soared at hearing Shirai-san still wanted her to work with them. She put her phone back into the pocket of her gym pants and determinedly upped her speed a notch.

"There you go!" Ruiko yelled happily. "At this rate you won't just be admitted to Judgment; before you know it, you'll be on the Olympic team!"

"Ah, Saten-san," Kazari gasped, "don't – tease me, please!"

"Save your breath for running! We only have three days to make you into an exemplary officer of the Judgment; when we're done, even that Speeder in our parallel class won't be able to shake you off!"

"Wah, Saten-san!" Kazari wailed, but was actually thankful for the other girl's constant nagging. Her words of encouragement made her try even when she thought she had no more energy left; she'd been running for hours already (at least according to her internal clock).

"Come on, just three more rounds, then I'll buy you the biggest parfait in the world – and eat it for you!" Ruiko grinned.

"Waaaah." Kazari pushed her legs even harder. Though it was painful, she was determined to do this; she was going to keep her promise with Shirai-san and work with her at Judgment. Nothing else mattered.

* * *

Note:

Kuroko gets to know a few more quirks about Mikoto. So, are they friends yet…?

There are a lot of things happening at once in this chapter. I hope I managed to make it as little confusing as possible. Please tell me what you think; especially about the vending machine scene. I worked _really_ hard on that one, and I still feel like I could have worked more on it, but I'm afraid I'll ruin the whole thing with my perfectionism.

Also, I was surprised at the amount of people saying Mikoto is a bully (from last chapter). I was thinking she is one of those being _bullied_. I guess different people get different impressions =P

Next time: The plot deepens… (I guess?)

Words and terms used in this chapter:

_Bishounen_ = pretty boys in girl's mangas.

_Walter Van Beirendonck _actually is a fashion designer from Belgium. Instead of putting a made-up name there I opted for using something that actually exists.


	8. Chapter 8: Rumors

**Chapter 8: Rumors**

Although one might think otherwise, the next couple of days actually passed by relatively fast. At school, Kuroko did her best in ignoring her fellow first-years as much as possible, and suffered through her meals with Sumone-san and their second-year guides, as they for some reason kept ending up at the same table, something both of the first-years despised. Sumone-san had tried to drag Misaka-san off to a table to join with her friends one day, but Hitomi-san invited them to sit with them before she managed to escape, and Misaka-san accepted.

Well, _suffer _was what she'd like to say; in reality, she found herself enjoying those times more and more. She liked talking with Hitomi-san, and even though she still thought Misaka-san was way too irresponsible for her own good and too moronic for her liking, she found herself enjoying the sport of trying to find new ways of irritating or embarrassing her at every encounter (calling her by "Onee-sama" was quite effective). She was even able to ignore Sumone-san's huffing glares that seemed to come her way whenever she provoked the rumored ace of Tokiwadai to the point where the second-year's face was glowing red. It never went further than that though, Misaka-san showing an impressive amount of self-control in front of their fellow students.

She spent much of her free time at Judgment headquarters. Normally they didn't have much work to do; after all, most of the cases they received where simple arrests or menial tasks like following kids home and the like. Most of the actual work consisted of writing boring reports afterwards, and made Kuroko wonder why she was so keen on being promoted from a trainee at all. However, with the current case of the invisible purse thief, both of the 177th branch members were plagued with severe headaches. It was becoming common to receive at least one case a day now; either to them directly, or through other branches (who sent them on to them because apparently they had been stamped as the branch that worked on that case).

The robberies in themselves were mind-boggling too: For some reason only girls were being robbed, and only middle schoolers at that. In every single case though, the victims were not able to see the culprit at all, even when it happened in the middle of the street during daytime. Not even the security cameras were of any help; they'd see the victim walking down the street, and then suddenly, their backpack, purse or whatever else they were holding would be ripped from their grasp and fly down the street, only to be lost in the throng of people. Not only that, but interrogating the suspects was tiresome work as well. Some did not answer their phone, and a few even refused to give their alibi without a proper meeting. Besides, it was growing harder and harder to even find suspects.

"How come we can't seem to move this forward at all!" Kuroko complained. "You'd think with Academy City's sophisticated security system, and the fact that we can see the bags – at least until they put them in their pocket or inside their sweater or anything – would make Anti-Skill able to capture them." She banged her fist into the desk. "Why aren't Anti-Skill acting more seriously in this case anyway? They're even ignoring our inquiries to use more advanced tracking systems!"

Konori-sempai was thoughtfully petting the kitten (who'd by now been nicknamed "Nebi" and seemed quite comfortable at their office), but had no answer to give.

It was frustrating.

XXX

Friday finally rolled around. Kuroko's mind was already full of thoughts when she woke up. She and Konori-sempai had investigated more suspects in the robbery case last night, but they still had six to do. It was frustrating and annoying, and having to listen to Sumone-san licking the boots of Misaka-san with all her might wouldn't help, making her mood even sourer. Thank goodness this was the last day of the guidance week; starting Monday, she'd no longer have to socialize during her meals. But at least Hitomi-san was a cheerful person to talk with, so perhaps her mood could be improved a little by that. But when the second-years met them outside the dorm cafeteria, Hitomi-san's smile seemed awfully unnatural.

"Good morning!" She cheered, smiling, but it did not truly reach her eyes.

"Good morning…" Kuroko said, a bit apprehensive at this mood.

"Misaka-sama, good morning!" Sumone-san beamed, utterly ignoring both of the others and throwing herself right at the older girl's arm.

"Aaah – good morning, Sumone-san…" Misaka-san was as usual doing her best in sounding sincere.

"Are you okay?" The slick-haired girl asked worriedly as they started walking to the cafeteria. "That duel with Minori-sempai didn't burn you out, did it?"

"Aaah," Misaka-san grinned awkwardly, "no, no, that was nothing… uh…"

"How conceited of her, thinking she could possibly beat you! I hate her!"

Kuroko listened with a medium level of interest. Someone had challenged Misaka-san to a duel? Though duels between espers weren't unusual in Academy City, at a school like Tokiwadai they were more refined than a mere brawl in the street. It was regarded a form of training rather than mere fights; but of course, the duels between the lady-like students were just as fierce and serious as anywhere else, with every student being a level three esper or above. According to the rules, the duels must be performed at a safe and open area, under the watchful eye of at least two teachers, and any audience was to keep a minimum of a hundred meters distance. She hadn't seen the duel in question, but with one of the participants being the third strongest level five, she figured she hadn't missed much.

"Poor Minori-san was feeling quite down afterwards," Hitomi-san smiled. "I think she hadn't anticipated that you would take it so seriously."

Misaka-san had a pinkish color in her cheeks. "It's not like I didn't try to hold back! If she doesn't want to fight seriously she shouldn't challenge people!"

"That's true." Hitomi-san smiled humorously, but Kuroko merely scowled. _If she doesn't want to duel she shouldn't accept it! But of course, every chance to show off your own power is a chance for upping your popularity, isn't it?_ She glared ahead, mind steaming.

They entered the cafeteria together, and found a free table; there were many girls already chatting eagerly at the other tables in the room, and the air was filled with giggles and glees. Kuroko was not smitten though, and when Sumone-san eagerly announced she'd be getting both herself and Misaka-san some breakfast, she was happy for the few minutes of free time that would give her.

Looking at Hitomi-san, she noticed the troubled look still present in the older girl's expression, despite the cheerful tone in her voice. Had something happened? She knew the situation around the upcoming election was not especially easy, but for the upperclassman to seem this down… Perhaps she'd had another run-in with Asanuma Reiko? Most likely, the best approach was to ask her directly.

Just as she was about to open her mouth however: "Shirai-san, are you hard at work at the Judgment headquarters lately?" Hitomi-san beat her to it. The smiling face was too brilliant to be shoved away, and Kuroko found herself dumbstruck for a moment.

"Aaah," she uttered at last, "there's been a series of robberies lately, so we are in fact quite busy." She didn't even know why she said it; it was no business of a civilian, after all.

"You deal with robberies?" Surprisingly, Misaka-san asked this. She gazed at Kuroko with her head supported on her hand and elbow planted in the table, seemingly bored out of her mind.

Kuroko sniffed. "We are the Judgment; of course we deal with robberies!"

"Really." The other girl paused for a second. "I thought you just cleaned trash and picked up lost kittens and the like."

"Of course not! We aren't the housewives of Academy City!" It pricked her pride greatly when people thought of Judgment as personal trash cans or whatever. "Judgment are the ones who makes this city a safe place to live; if it weren't for us, you'd be run over by smugglers and terrorists, and not even you could have electrified them all!" This was perhaps an exaggeration, but to Kuroko, it was stone-hard belief.

"Well, don't lose your head over it." Misaka-san said dryly. "I was just saying."

"Maa, Misaka-san, Judgment are like the Anti-Skill for us students." Hitomi-san said, eying her classmate with a small smile. "If we do anything wrong, it's them we have to answer to first. Isn't that right, Shirai-san?" Her smiling face turned to Kuroko.

Kuroko huffed, and folded her arms. "Of course. Things like _mistreating vending machines_…"

Misaka-san's hand twitched; Kuroko smirked, and Hitomi-san looked at them questioningly. Then, without biting the lure thrown out so openly, Misaka-san sighed deeply and looked away.

"There she is!" Someone whispered excitedly; Kuroko barely cast a glance at the two girls walking past their table, giggles hidden behind elegant hands. She'd seen enough people throwing longing glances at their precious _Onee-samas_ to last a lifetime already – these ones were looking at Hitomi-san.

The girls quickly walked past, but Hitomi-san was staring into the table now, expression far from the joyful beam it had been just moments ago. Kuroko felt a flash of worry. Usually being the target of admiring glances wouldn't make the other girl so down. "What's wrong, Hitomi-san?"

Hitomi-san forced a smile on her face, but it didn't fool the observant Judgment member. "It's nothing… just a bit bad sleep lately. Oh, by the way – what would you like for breakfast?"

Kuroko blinked, realizing they hadn't gotten their food yet – Sumone-san would never bring them _all_ their meals. She didn't have time to utter an answer before the older girl stood up, however.

"How about toast and eggs? That's a sure winner, right? Be right back!" And she went off into the throng of girls surrounding the buffet tables. Kuroko looked after her, worried and frowning all at once.

"She's obviously troubled by something, isn't she?" Misaka-san said, drawing the longhaired girl's attention. She was still supporting her head with one hand, and the look on her face hadn't changed from its slightly bored expression.

Kuroko huffed. "It would be best if you left the process of thought to someone with brains, Onee-sama." It just fell out of her without her even planning it; as if her mouth lived its own life and longed for yet another duel of words with the older student.

Misaka-san looked at her and sighed. "You're not very good at making friends, are you?"

"I merely detest your kind's arrogant attitude." Kuroko said haughtily. (She didn't even deny it.) "Just because you happen to be level five it does not mean you can do whatever you want."

"Gh." The other girl reddened, but then forced out a brilliant smile. "Haha, I guess that's the charm of an honest personality, _neh_?" She might be trying her hardest to sound cheerful, but Kuroko detected the underlying vile in her voice. It was the same tone that had been between them the last two days whenever they met; luckily, there had been no meetings outside school after the vending machine episode. Yet she was feeling extra stingy today, for some reason.

"Of course, charm is a woman's most important point, Onee-sama." She said, smiling sweetly. "Though I might be expecting too much if I was hoping someone like you knew anything about _women_."

"Ahaha." Misaka-san chuckled in a forced manner, her smile seeming more and more forced as her eyebrow twitched. "You're really funny."

"Indeed." Kuroko said, and joined in on the laughter. "Hohoho…"

"Hehehe…"

"Haha…"

The corner of her mouth shivered, and then Misaka-san suddenly banged a fist violently onto the table, fake smile gone and replaced by an angry scowl. "What the hell, you're _really_ grating on my nerves here!"

Several girls close by turned and looked at them in alarm, and then proceeded to whisper excitedly amongst themselves. Misaka-san snapped out of it and quickly pulled back, face carefully arranged back into a neutral expression, even if it was still tinted with a pinkish color.

"Honestly, you are really irritating." She muttered and folded her arms.

Kuroko followed this development with interest; as usual the older girl would never make a scene in front of their fellow schoolmates. _Worried about your image, neh? _"Honestly, I was really surprised," she said, "when I first started here, I thought the Railgun was a fine, well-mannered girl with more friends than you could count. Who'd have imagined her to be a _sour, boyish loner_?"

Misaka-san's face instantly grew dark and expressionless, a small crackle of electricity escaping from her temple. It seemed like her whole being was fighting the urge to kill Kuroko on the spot. _You won't show your true colors to these frail girls, will you?_ Kuroko smirked, ignoring the excited feeling of butterflies in her stomach.

"Misaka-sama!" The cheerful voice of Sumone-san entered their one-sided duel, and effectively halted any plans Kuroko had made to keep baiting the older girl. Her roommate had returned with two plates in her hands, seemingly topped with every kind of food she could find.

Misaka-san was jolted out of her frustrated state, and she turned to look at the irritating girl with an almost surprised expression on her face.

"I hope you don't mind if the eggs and the jam got a bit mixed together; the cooks have done a terrible job today…" Sumone-san studied the plate in her hand worriedly.

"Uh, not at all…"

Kuroko rolled her eyes at the awkward smile the older girl was sporting. There was no room for delivering another comment however, because of a sudden outbreak of noise at the buffet tables; all three looked at the mass of students, where a girl just shrieked from their midst: "She _touched _me!"

The girls backed off instantly, forming a circle around the commotion. The shrieking girl had one arm clamped over her chest, and glared red-faced at someone on the floor. Whispers reverberated throughout the room; Kuroko rose from her chair and grew wide-eyed.

"Hitomi-san!" Acting on instinct, she teleported into the open circle, and kneeled in front of the girl on the floor, putting her hands on her shoulders. Hitomi-san seemed utterly defeated, a red mark sporting her cheek – probably from a hand. "Hitomi-san!"

The blonde girl raised her head slowly, a dull smile on her face, but her eyes lacked any kind of glow behind her glasses. "Ah, Shirai-san… sorry, I'll get our breakfast ready…"

"Stop it!" Kuroko said. She glared up at the girls around them and growled: "This is how you treat a fellow student?"

Some of them sported guilty looks, but someone chuckled; she didn't see who. Then a whisper: "Did you know? They're a couple."

Kuroko reddened, and Hitomi-san's face froze. The whispering around them erupted once more, and Kuroko suddenly didn't know where to put her hands – never mind _herself_.

"What is going on here?" The stinging voice of the dorm mistress tore through the air like a knife; stepping aside, the girls let the strict woman pass through, and she stopped in the middle of the mass, glaring down at Kuroko and Hitomi-san through her narrow glasses.

Kuroko gulped.

The eyes of the dorm mistress glinted, and she whipped her hand out; the girls around them immediately scattered, but for a few, who received a murderous glare from the dorm mistress and then hurriedly backed off. Kuroko and Hitomi-san remained, and the strict woman looked at them pointedly.

"Explain." She said. "Now."

_Here?_ Kuroko was appalled; at least she could have asked them to move to a private room or something. Didn't she see this was an uncomfortable situation, with all the questioning stares and ears as long as the Nile? _There's no privacy in front of these vultures!_

"It was just a little misunderstanding." Hitomi-san said, smiling up at the woman. "Apparently there are some rumors of a student who gropes others roaming about; I accidently bumped into her and most naturally, she thought I was the source of the myth. It is quite alright now."

Kuroko was surprised; she hadn't heard any of this. Though of course, she was much too busy to bother paying attention to the current rumors flying about. They changed faster than content on the internet anyway.

"Really." The dorm mistress said, pushing her glasses up her nose. Her glare hadn't lessened.

"Yes." Hitomi-san smiled.

"Hmf. Fine. Shirai!"

"Hai!" Kuroko eep'ed, even though there was no reason for her to be punished at all.

The dorm mistress glared at her. "Follow her back to her seat." And she turned and left.

XXX

In another part of district 7, a bunch of students of different ages were gathered at a high school track field running the 1500 meter course that was part of the Judgment tests. One thing all those students had in common: They failed the first time. This was their chance at making up for their failure. The atmosphere was tense, excited, some students even looked like they were going to war.

Uiharu Kazari was on the track, running.

_I… can… do it!_

Huff, huff, her breath went like the engine of a steam train.

_I can… do it!_

Three rounds were covered; the fourth was bringing her closer to the goal with every step.

How much time had passed? How much sweat had she left on the ground? How many calories had been burned? _Huff, huff…_

It didn't matter. Her focus was on moving her legs; one after the other, moving forwards, and simultaneously breath correctly: _In, out, in, out…_

There were more people around her, but she saw nothing but shadows; the only thing she saw clearly, was the goal. She ignored the burning pain in her limbs, the stinging in her chest, and pushed her body to its very limits.

_I can do it!_ Her feet continued to hit the ground sloppily.

"Finish!"

The voice broke into her focus, and she realized she'd already passed the line. She slowed; her knees wobbled, and she fell to the ground with a heave of breath.

"Uiharu Kazari, completed the 1500 meter course in 12 minutes 45 seconds. Hey," the voice seemed closer, just beside her ear, "you need to move."

She was unable to even move a muscle as her whole body was burning up.

"Did I…" she gasped for breath, her lungs heaving as if they'd never felt such a wonderful thing as air ever before.

"Please, you're sitting in the middle of the track. Move to the side." Someone grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up, but her legs were still wobbly, and she needed the support to walk.

"Did I…" she tried again, "did I pass?"

"You'll have the results shortly, no worries –"

"Did I pass?" She asked again, a bit more fiercely; her legs wobbled again and threatened with sending her back to the ground.

The woman beside her gave her a considerate look, and then smiled.

"Hai. You passed, Uiharu-san. Congratulations."

Relief flooded through her body, and suddenly even her exhaustion seemed like a trivial matter.

_I… did it!_

XXX

"Today we will start covering the basics of advanced power development." Hiraga-sensei stood at the catheter with his e-pad in hand, the same page visible on every laptop on every desk in the room. It was the last class for the day, and still the longing for weekend seemed surprisingly vacant.

Kuroko stared at the screen in front of her without really seeing it, brow furrowed. The scene from breakfast was still fresh in her mind, and she played it over and over to try and grasp a better picture of what had happened. It was no doubt to her who had started those rumors about Hitomi-san; whether she did it herself or had some of her followers do it, it smelled of Asanuma-san a long way. What a dirty way of playing election campaign…

"Like you all know, the main purpose of Academy City's curriculum program is to develop high level espers." The teacher continued. "However there have been a minimum of successful attempts so far, those being the seven level fives we have today."

"Tsk." Her voice was so low not even her closest neighbors could hear, but it was still wholeheartedly meant.

"Furthermore," Hiraga-sensei continued uninterrupted, "most of those seven were born at that level. Just like some of you were born as a level three or four, they were born as a level five."

_And look what good that does,_ Kuroko thought, seeing again in her mind the scene at the vending machine. Having no clue of the hardship it took to raise your level from the lowest possible to one of the highest obviously made them despicable to the bone.

One of her classmates raised a hand. "Sensei! There are exceptions, aren't there?"

"I was just coming to that," Hiraga-sensei said. "Indeed, there are exceptions even amongst those few. One of them being our very own Misaka Mikoto –" a few silent gasps fluttered the classroom and several cheeks erupted into pink, "– whom through hard work and sheer determination rose from level one to five in just a few years."

Kuroko's brain stopped right there. While her classmates murmured excited whispers amongst each other, she could only stare at her teacher like he'd just tried to convince her the Earth actually _was_ flat.

"Misaka-sama sure is amazing." Someone breathed.

"Everyone knows that." Sumone-san smirked from her spot near the wall.

_Wha – what the heck?_ Kuroko continued to stare at Hiraga-sensei, as if he had sprouted an extra head. _That… that moron was a level one?_ But, _how_? How did that thickheaded numbskull even manage to do something impossible like that? Surely she was no _prodigy_ or the like?

"Can _anyone_ do that, Hiraga-sensei?" Another girl asked, instantly receiving a mixed amount of hopeful and irritated stares.

"Of course not!" Sumone-san declared, as if the question was laughable. "Misaka-sama is a prodigy, there is no way someone like _you_ could ever reach her level!"

Most of the hopeful looks faltered at this.

Hiraga-sensei sighed. "That's too harsh, Sumone-san, please settle down." Sumone-san merely smiled confidently. "Saying _anyone_ could do it might not be entirely true," their teacher continued, looking over his entire class. "It's certainly hard work, and there's a lot of obstacles to overcome. Some abilities might not even have the potential of reaching level five. However, Misaka-san is a pretty normal girl in all aspects, and she did it. So in that sense, anyone can." He suddenly pumped his fist and gave them a determined stare. "And I plan on besting Matsui-sensei and train at least _four_ level fives before the end of this school year!"

Some girls giggled lightly, but Kuroko did not find it funny at all.

XXX

Between rumors and new discoveries that would have been best left undiscovered, Kuroko was already tired by the time she left school. She'd done her best to ignore the whispers and chuckles floating around school, knowing they most likely regarded Hitomi-san (and herself) in some way. Every time she saw one of the posters with Asanuma Reiko's smiling face, she felt a burning urge to tear it down and rip it apart.

That, and the fact that her whole impression about a certain thickskulled level five had received a drastic impact, explained why she had a slightly annoyed look on her face when she opened the door to the Judgment office.

"Hel – OOMF!" Something hairy connected with her face with the speed and force of a Mach 3 jet fighter. She stumbled backwards, sharp claws digging into her skin, and then Konori-sempai's voice erupted from somewhere nearby: "Nebi, _no_!" The mewing lump of claws and fur was forcibly removed from her face, and Kuroko gasped for breath.

A few minutes later her face was covered with plasters hiding the bleeding claw marks on her skin, and she glared at the demon kitten who was licking its paw innocently on its spot at Konori-sempai's desk.

"We need to get rid of that monster." She muttered.

"Well, don't look at me," Konori-sempai said, storing away their first aid equipment, "I haven't even had the time to eat lately, no way I'd be able to pull off making those flyers and what-not. Oh, by the way, we have a request to clean up after someone upturned a container."

Kuroko glared at the kitten sourly, as if it was at fault for the unpleasant work just announced to her (not to mention every other things that was wrong today), when her cell phone suddenly rang.

She answered it with a stubborn tone. "Hai."

A chorus of voices greeted her; laughing and giggling, they broke into song while a rather terrified voice broke out: "Shirai-san!" It was Uiharu.

"Ah, Uiharu-san. Are you at a night club or something?" Kuroko asked dryly.

"Wah, I'm sorry about that!" The other girl shrieked, apparently embarrassed. "It was my friends, they… but nevermind; Shirai-san, I passed!"

There was a couple of seconds of silence (ignoring the noise from the girls in the background) while Kuroko thought. Her brain did not get the connection before Nebi the demon suddenly mewed in front of her. "Oh – the make-up test."

"Hai!" Uiharu sounded exceptionally pleased.

"Wait – you passed?" Kuroko's eyes suddenly grew wide, and she leaned forward in her chair.

"Hai!"

"That means you're officially a Judgment member now, right?" Her chest seemed to have soared with several meters.

"Eh… I don't know the procedures, but I think I'll receive recommendation for a branch tomorrow and then –"

"Don't bother with that: Get over here now!" Kuroko shouted.

"Eeeh? But, Shirai-san…"

"No excuses! Work comes before pleasure. You have ten minutes to show up here!"

Kazari was met with the merciless sound of the dial tone, and gazed at her phone in shocked silence.

"Neh, Uiharu, what did she say? She's happy for you, right?" Ruiko threw her arms around her neck, a can of soda in her hand.

To celebrate Kazari's victory, Ruiko, Shimawata-san and Kunita-san had thrown together a sporadic party in Ruiko's dorm room. They'd even bought a big cake for the occasion, claiming they knew she'd make it.

Kazari's stunned look did not waver. Her legs were still wobbly and felt like jelly whenever she walked; her head was a cloud of exhaustion and happiness, and still Shirai-san…

"I… I…" She drew a breath, and turned around to face her friends.

They all watched her expectantly.

"I have work to do!" She exclaimed.

"What, already?" Ruiko asked.

Kazari nodded, expression fierce. "I am a Judgment member now; I have to take my position seriously."

"Eeeh? But, surely you can wait a few minutes…"

"Sorry, Saten-san; I'll see you later!"

Kazari stormed out the door before any of them could say anymore. Running down the stairs of Ruiko's dormitory, a big smile plastered onto her face.

* * *

Note:

Kuroko gets a shocker, WELL DESERVED if I may say so!

(I have realized that _senpai_ is actually written _sempai_. But I can't be bothered to go and change it in the earlier chapters.)

…capishe?

Next time: "I HAVE NO DESIRE TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT!"


	9. Chapter 9: Hateful Meetings

**Chapter 9: Hateful Meetings**

Naturally, considering the size of the Judgment 177th branch office, Kazari was given the workspace by the server. Since it was impossible to fit a laptop beside the five monitors, she was working with the server itself instead. She didn't mind; in fact, she was thrilled. She loved computers. And somehow, getting used to working with the machine was much easier than getting used to working with her co-workers.

When she had entered the office that Friday afternoon, she'd been quickly introduced to their senior, Konori-senpai, and had been given a green armband similar to the one Shirai-san always wore; then Shirai-san had introduced her to every single aspect of being a Judgment member and this particular branch in the span of an hour – her head still felt cramped by all the information she'd have to take in at once.

After the brief introduction, she had spent several hours making flyers for the lost cat known as "Nebi" (made all the more difficult by the fact that the cat jumped all around the room when she tried to take his picture), and had been guided by Konori-senpai in how to access the Judgment monitors all around town and put it into the "missing pets" section. Of course, in Academy City the officials did not have to resort to pinning flyers on lampposts and the like, so at least she hadn't had to walk all over town with her tired legs. Though she doubted Shirai-san would have shown her any mercy had that been the case.

"There was _another_ container upturned?" Kuroko smacked her hands on her desk, glaring fiercely at her computer screen. Kazari jumped, and threw an unsure glance at the other girl.

It was Saturday, a day since she'd become a Judgment member (and now she'd officially become part of branch 177 too), but she still felt like a fledgling in all ways.

"The culprits from yesterday are still on the loose, right?" She asked warily, and remembered the guys from her parallel class as vividly as one would remember the first time you tried to eat expired food just in case it was still edible. Upturning containers seemed to be one of their favorite pastimes, though she had no proof it was them other than having witnessed their escape from one of the scenes last week.

"Guh, I don't have time for this…" Kuroko growled, pulling at her pigtails. Then her glare turned to Kazari, who gulped.

XXX

Konori-senpai entered the office a while later, blowing hot air into her hands. "Brr, it's cold outside." She looked up into the room, and saw only Kuroko, the pigtailed girl busy at work at her computer. "Where's Uiharu?"

"There was another container upturned, so I had her go clean it up." Kuroko answered without looking away from the screen.

"Oh really?" Konori-senpai walked over to her own desk and petted Nebi on his head when the cat came to greet her. "Shouldn't she be concentrating on finding Nebi's owners?"

The cat mewed joyfully at hearing his name; apparently, he was becoming quite house-warm. Even though Uiharu had made that flyer and posted it all over district 7 yesterday (while Kuroko was working her hands off cleaning up after the container-thugs) and even put up a notice on their lost-and-found website, no-one had called to claim ownership yet.

"The cat has been here for many days already, one or two more won't hurt." Kuroko claimed. "Besides, she needs to see the reality of our work sooner or later." She still didn't look up from her computer screen. She was trying to get done with the report of the events at Tuesday, when she found the cat in the first place (the report was way overdue, by the way).

Konori-senpai sighed and sat down in her chair. "I guess that's true."

Kuroko continued to type into her laptop. Though she was reluctant to admit it, she was still rather stunned by everything that had happened yesterday, and that was the main reason her mood was quite sour today. The rumors about Hitomi-san aside, she was still having trouble digesting what Hiraga-sensei had told them in class. After his initial mention of Misaka-san, they went on with reading the first chapter of the textbook, and of course the very same facts about the level fives were written there. Kuroko wanted to contact the authors and ask them to check their background info a bit better. Honestly.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Ah –" Konori-senpai swiveled her chair towards the entrance. Kuroko didn't bother to avert her eyes from the screen. "Come in!"

The door opened. "Hello, I hope we are not disturbing."

Kuroko spluttered, and turned around hastily, almost throwing her chair off-balance. Standing there in the doorway, smiling shyly, was Hitomi-san. And behind her, with a slightly bored look on her face –

"My name is Hitomi Aika, and this is my classmate, Misaka Mikoto." Hitomi-san cheerfully introduced them both, and Konori-senpai greeted them in turn.

"So this is a Judgment office, huh?" Misaka-san said, looking around the room contemplatively. Her gaze fell on Kuroko's desk, full of papers and folders waiting to be sorted. "Well… it's nice."

Kuroko gaped, horror-struck. Her brain seemed to have been the target of a nuclear attack.

"What can we help you with?" Konori-senpai asked.

"Well, actually…" Hitomi-san was blushing slightly, wriggling her hands into each other. "We're having a project at school now about the safety system in Academy City. We're required to do a report on how a Judgment branch works."

She gazed briefly at Kuroko, who was staring at the upperclassmen as if they were aliens coming to greet earthlings for the very first time, and just happened to be speaking the same language.

"Ah, so you want to observe our work?" Konori-senpai said, placing a hand on her chin thoughtfully.

Hitomi-san smiled sweetly. "If we can, please?"

Konori nodded slowly. "I see no reason to deny you that, as long as you're willing to sign a clause of silence, and follow our orders. How about you, Shirai?"

Kuroko croaked.

"We will do as you say, of course." Hitomi-san said, and then bowed. "Thank you very much!"

Kuroko smacked her cheeks, forcing herself out of her stupor. Allowing herself to be this put out by the two upperclassmen suddenly appearing at her workspace – what was up with that? _I don't care if she was a level one or an orphaned war-victim; facts are still facts! And fact is, she's a moron!_

"Just don't disturb me!" She growled, and defiantly turned back to her laptop.

"I am sorry." Hitomi-san said, moving over to Kuroko's desk with an apologizing smile. "I was a bit stumped when we got this project, but then I remembered you telling me you worked here, and I wanted to see the office too."

"Hmf." Kuroko threw a sideways glance at the other second-year, who was currently gazing dreamily at Konori-senpai petting Nebi. "How come _she's _here as well?" Surely the idiot had no secret desire to see her workspace. Now that the guidance week was finally over – did she still have to keep seeing that stupid face everywhere?

Hitomi-san smiled. "We're partners in this project. Our teacher told us to pair up – I asked her, and she agreed." She beamed. "It's an excellent opportunity, don't you think?"

"For what?" Kuroko asked sourly.

"For getting to know Misaka-san better!" She smiled, and Kuroko's face instantly reddened.

"I never said I wanted to know her better!"

Hitomi-san looked confused first, and then she giggled. "Oh my; I was actually talking about myself. I didn't know you…"

"I HAVE NO DESIRE TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT!" Kuroko was suddenly yelling loudly. She glared at Misaka-san, who was looking at her in surprise. "How come _you_ willingly entered this place?"

"Eh?" Misaka-san blinked. "Isn't Judgment open to the public? Anyhow, it was Hitomi-san's idea…"

"Then why didn't you turn her down? Do you enjoy torturing people you hate?" The words were running out of her like water from a leaking spring. She wanted to stomp down every feeling in her chest, and wished she could twist reality to once again fit her first impression of the level five.

Misaka-san gazed at her seriously for a moment, and then closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, placing one hand on her waist. "Honestly, you really like throwing accusations in every direction, don't you?" She looked up, gazing at her with a determined look in her eyes. "Where did you get the impression that I hate you, anyway?"

"Guh –" something stabbed at her chest.

"You're the one who's been constantly insulting me, aren't you?" She continued, and then sighed again. "Honestly, do you know how hard it's been to refrain from electrifying you this past week? You always manage to make me lose my cool and act like a total spaz. And more importantly…" her expression darkened, somehow, no humor at all in those brown eyes. Kuroko could swear she heard the buzz of an electric charge, and her face broke into sweat. "…Don't you think I have more effective means of dealing with those I don't like?"

The atmosphere in the room was building in pressure with every second that went by; Kuroko forced down a gulp of saliva. Somehow, that one expression seemed way more serious than all of Misaka-san's temper tantrums combined.

Hitomi-san smiled somewhat nervously. "Maa, Misaka-san, I am certain Shirai-san was merely shocked to see us here. Isn't that right, Shirai-san?" Her smile turned to the pigtailed girl; there was a slightly desperate feel to it.

Kuroko stared at Misaka-san for a few more seconds, wondering if she'd finally hit the limit of her patience. She had perhaps been quite insulting to the older girl whenever they met – yet, didn't she deserve it? Then again, the real problem here wasn't that Misaka-san acted with a total lack of respect for the law, was it… Kuroko gritted her teeth. She was normally a woman of facts – denying the fact that Misaka-san might have once been a level one was quite out of character. But why was it so unsettling anyway? Finally, the pig-tailed Judgment member looked down in defeat.

"…I guess that is the truth." She admitted at last. "I am sorry." It stung her chest to admit it, but she knew to see reality with a sober mind. As a Judgment member, she should be the first to see the situation clearly.

Hitomi-san kept smiling, and Konori-senpai put a hand to her forehead in defeat. "Shirai…"

Misaka-san sighed deeply. "I don't understand your behavior at all." Then she suddenly smiled, instantly breaking up the tense atmosphere in the room. "You really are a weirdo."

"_WHAT?_" Kuroko cried. "Who are you calling _weird_, you incompetent –" _rrriiiing_, the office phone interrupted her tirade, and she and Misaka-san ended up glaring at each other silently while Konori answered the phone.

"Hai, Judgment 177th branch… Oh, Uiharu… another container? Obutsu Goods at Third Street, right… I'll have her over right away." She hung up, and turned towards Kuroko, who already stood up and grabbed her jacket.

"The culprits are still there." Konori said. "Uiharu heard the ruckus. She needs assistance quickly!"

"Hai!" Kuroko spent no more time before teleporting out.

Mikoto and Hitomi-san was left looking at the spot she had just occupied.

Konori smiled. "It'd be impossible for you to go with her on this one; it's hard keeping up with a teleporter. If you want, I'll show you the procedure we use when we receive a report like that…"

"Oh – yes, please!" Hitomi said, smiling brilliantly.

Mikoto gazed into the air thoughtfully, before letting out a small sigh.

XXX

Kuroko appeared at the front of a small store called Obutsu Goods. Like the other stores where containers had been upturned this last week, this one was fairly small, and most likely had no security cameras in its backyard. Even though they cost so little, some store owners opted for saving the money, or neglected the importance of maintaining their functionality. _And look what happens._ She huffed. Underestimating the importance of security made vandals able to roam freely about.

There were voices floating out to the main street from the back of the building, and she entered the narrow alleyway that lead through to there. She didn't come far before running into Uiharu though, whom was standing right before the opening to the backyard, arms outstretched as if to block the route. Three boys were sneering at her.

"Aah, so you're here to _stop _us, is that it?" One was blonde, dressed in a yellow shirt that was way too big and had a ridiculous golden necklace dangling down his chest.

"Don't you know how strong we are?" Another was fairly big, spiky brown hair on his head. His upper arms were huge, and so were his hands.

"Where did you steal the armband from, eh?" The last one was wearing sunglasses and probably used half a box of gel on his hair every morning to have it flattened backwards like that.

Kuroko walked up beside Kazari and put a hand on her shoulder; the flowery girl looked at her in surprise, and then gave a relieved sigh. "Shirai-san! Thank goodness you came so quickly." Her cheek was sporting a red mark, and her eyes seemed teary. Had they hit her already?

Kuroko gritted her teeth and turned viciously on the three boys, who seemed less confident now that a second Judgment member had appeared. Her whole posture radiated confidence as she stepped forward, a displeased frown on her face. "So you are the amoebas giving us these pleasant jobs as of lately." She put her hands on her waist and glared at them. The one with the yellow shirt and the huge golden necklace gave a lopsided grin.

"Another useless Judgment member," he spat. "How neat! I'll get rid of you both!" He suddenly grabbed his necklace, and as if it was a living, golden snake, it wobbled at his touch. He pulled it off and snapped it like a whip, a loud _crack_ in the air. His grin widened. "You really want to take me on?"

The other two boys grinned as well; the one with the sunglasses snapped his fingers and made a small spark in the air, and the big spiky-haired one grinded one fist into his hand.

"Your faces have been seen and your actions are known," Kuroko commented tiredly, "you surely won't gain much from resisting now."

"Just like you Judgment people to say that!" He pulled the whip back to snap it again, and somehow, it seemed to grow in the air while he swung it; the glinting end was heading right for Kuroko's head.

When facing ability users, one would always have to think strategically. One of the things a Judgment member learnt during training was how to cope with different situations. Kuroko had already mapped out the layout of the alley and come up with counters for whatever she might meet; teleporting backwards was no option when faced with frontal attacks like this, and the alley was too narrow to escape sideways; she did not want to try being stuck in a wall. Therefore, the only options were either up or forward.

She disappeared instantly from the spot she'd been standing in, and appeared at a point behind the boys. The golden whip snapped into the air emptily; Kazari's could feel the air swish past her ear, and her eyes widened. The guys stared wide-eyed at the spot Kuroko had just been.

"Unless you can teleport the weapon right into my body, there's no way you'll ever hit me with anything." Kuroko claimed confidently. They gasped; she placed a hand on the blonde guy's back, and then he suddenly found himself three meters up in the air, and fell to the ground with an audible _thud_. "Guwah-!" His golden necklace clattered to the ground beside him like a normal piece of jewelry.

Kuroko gazed at him croaking in pain for a moment, and when it seemed like he wasn't going to move anywhere as of now, she eyed the other two boys. They backed off a notch, nervously eying the Judgment member. "Please cease all resistance and lay down on the ground," she said.

They looked from her to the guy on the ground, perhaps contemplating their options.

Kazari was astonished; she'd never seen anyone handle criminals so elegantly. _Truly an ojou-sama of Tokiwadai! _Determination bubbling up inside, she dug out her handcuffs and moved forward to arrest the guy on the ground.

"Uiharu, stay back!" Kuroko exclaimed, though it was already too late.

"Gh –" The guy with the sunglasses suddenly dashed forward, slamming his shoulder into Kazari's and making the girl fall over with a cry. "Get up, Akio!" The guy on the ground tried to sit up, face grimacing at the pain in his back.

The last guy charged at Kuroko with a fierce cry; "Taste the power of my 'Iron Fist'!"

She teleported to a spot behind him, and his punch hit the wall; a huge dent appeared in the building and the surface cracked, drizzling dust down. He turned around with a scowl, and punched again. Kuroko once again teleported to land behind him; his punches may be powerful, but he was so slow it was painful to watch. She turned on the spot, delivering a roundhouse kick to his midriff. He groaned, but didn't fall; instead, he turned around and tried punching her again, crying fiercely. She teleported again, landing at his side; between him and the grappling couple of Kazari and his slick-haired buddy.

Kazari tried desperately to keep the guy from getting his hands around her throat, but it was a losing battle._ I'm not strong enough!_ She felt tears sting in the corners of her eyes, and the guy got a hand on her throat and grinned confidently; the pressure made her gasp for breath desperately. Then his face stiffened, and he suddenly vanished. A second later his forehead connected with the temple of his spiky-haired buddy, and they both tumbled to the ground in pain.

The boy with the yellow shirt gritted his teeth, then stood and ran, heading right for Kazari. "You bitch!" He spat and wound his arm around her neck, pulling her up; she squealed in surprise while Kuroko gritted her teeth and prepared to teleport – and then Kazari pulled out a stun gun from her inner pocket and put it to the boy's arm.

"N –"

"Too slow!" Kazari cried, and pushed the button. The official Judgment stun gun was a flashlight and self-defense weapon combined, capable of spewing out a total of 500,000 volts a second. The guy cried out in pain as the electric charge tore through his body, and his limbs turned limp as he fell to the ground unceremoniously. Kazari breathed heavily, sweat shining on her skin.

The two other guys were still conscious, but they lay groaning and whining on the ground, all fighting spirit lost.

Kuroko sighed and looked back at Kazari. She seemed startled, but unhurt. Most likely, the blunder earlier was still fresh in her mind. "Well, Uiharu, you know how to make an arrest, right?"

Kazari looked up in surprise, then straightened, a blush forming on her face. "H-hai!"

"Then, please." She threw a distasteful look at the groaning guys on the ground.

Kazari nodded determinedly and marched forward, glaring at the boys with pursed lips. "You are under arrest for wanton destruction and assault!" She said. "Please cease all resistance and your arrest will be quick and painless." She whipped out a set of handcuffs.

The boys did not put up a fight.

XXX

"Well, for a first time it was okay, I guess." Kuroko said, looking at the boys as they were taken away by Anti-Skill. "Though we could have escaped with less bruising."

Kazari reddened beside her, a plaster covering a small scratch on her forehead. "I didn't know you had to fight like that," she said hesitantly, "they said it may happen, but… I guess it's just too unreal to imagine."

"You never know who may put up a fight or not." Kuroko gazed thoughtfully at the boys. "Some students just have too much free time." If they spent as much time on studying and enhancing their abilities as they did on random mischief, they might actually become something.

"I tried to stop them, but they were too strong… And then when he was lying on the ground, I got so excited, thinking I could finally arrest them…" Kazari looked down, feeling the shame bubbling up inside. Her very first case, and she just had to screw up.

"It's natural for everyone to do something wrong the first few times," Kuroko said; though she refused to give the incident in the post office back then as an example. The way she had acted so recklessly and made Konori-senpai be hurt… was best left forgotten. She gazed at the other girl thoughtfully, noting the red marks on her cheek and throat. "Still, perhaps you're better suited as surveillance and backup rather than the frontlines." She wouldn't like to have an injured Uiharu on her conscience too.

"Mhm. That's what I like the best too." Kazari said, a small smile on her face. She looked at the Anti-Skill car as it drove away, feeling quite content nevertheless.

"All that's left now is the troublesome part." Kuroko sighed, making Kazari look at her in question. "Writing the report." She scowled at the thought.

Kazari grinned awkwardly. Shirai-san probably wasn't the type to enjoy that part of work. However… "It is very important to keep a proper record of our jobs!" One didn't need Judgment training to figure out that much.

"Hai hai…"

"But first, let's celebrate with some ice cream!"

Kuroko halted, looking at her. "Haah?"

She nodded, beaming. "Our first case together! It needs to be celebrated, don't you think?"

Kuroko gazed at her, and then slowly, a smile formed on her face as well, and she straightened. "Heh. I guess only this one time won't hurt." She didn't particularly look forward to go back and see the stupid face of Misaka-san either way. Better if they prolonged the moment when they had to go back for as long as possible.

XXX

"You really feel that way?" Kazari asked from behind a huge parfait; she had ordered it with pride, knowing she had passed the Judgment tests and didn't need to be on her best performance level for running anymore.

Kuroko watched the swirling ice cubes in her soda sourly. "Hai, we always end up fighting."

Their topic was, for some reason, Misaka-san. It was unclear to Kuroko how they had entered on this unpleasant subject, but here they were discussing the stupid upperclassman.

Though Kazari had never even seen the girl (and Kuroko hadn't even offered her the name), she tried her best in offering support for her begrudged friend. "Perhaps you ought to give her a chance; talk with her, get to know her… then perhaps you'll see she's the perfect ojou-sama!" She sighed dreamily.

Kuroko tsk'ed. "Your ojou-sama image does not apply to this one…" she muttered.

"Aaaah, surrounded by ojou-sama's, drinking red tea in a flowery little café…" Kazari wasn't listening. A couple of boys passing by their table even threw her weird glances.

"There's no way to have a civilized conversation with such a dorkhead." Kuroko claimed, angrily stirring her soda with the straw. Then she picked the glass up and emptied it in one long gulp. Kazari stared at her in astonishment as she slammed the glass back down and stood up. "Let's go, Uiharu; we still have work to do."

"Eeh? But…" Kazari gazed at the parfait in front of her, barely even touched yet.

Kuroko grasped Kazari's arm tightly. "No loitering around; you're a part of Judgment now, and we have to take our work seriously."

"Buuut…" she was dragged from her chair and then pulled towards the entrance, eyes tearing up. "The parfaaaaait…"

Kuroko didn't listen. She needed to think about something else, and paperwork seemed like just the thing to take her mind off useless topics. Talking with Misaka-san in a friendly way? She snorted. Impossible.

* * *

Note:

In fact, it's really hard writing Mikoto when we're seeing stuff from Kuroko's point of view. I constantly have to think "what's Mikoto thinking right now?" and not actually write it… So I guess we're still not quite _there _yet, are we? Hmm...

I'm not _ecstatic_ about the fight scene in this chapter, but it's too soon to bring out the really amazing stuff. To be honest, I think the hardest part about writing fight scenes is to come up with some interesting abilities for the opponents … (and you know what, I tried giving them a bit more of a personality with their clothes and stuff after I initially wrote this note, and then suddenly the fight scene got much more exciting – I feel like I learned something new… and now I want to go back to chapter 3 and make their first appearance more interesting; yeah, that's how it goes…)

Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing; you really make my day! I want to give special thanks to Lady Poison Dreams, whose reviews are long and interesting to read; I love hearing the thoughts of the readers (and you're right, it's the same shop as in episode 6 of TAMNI 2)! Also thanks to co426e (again xD) for the same reasons – and Kai250, who forced me to take a speedy lesson in Spanish to read your review (I cheated and used google translate, but it was still fun). Gracias! No worries; this story won't be abandoned. It's already complete, I just won't post it all at once ;) Though I can't name everyone here, I appreciate every single review I get!

(By the way, since it seems like senpai or sempai goes side by side, I'm gonna keep on using senpai, since that feels more natural to me. Behold, chapter 8 is an abnormality in this story! Wahahaha!)

Next time: Gyokuro and Tamaryokucha

Words and terms:

_Nebi_ = Contracted form of Egyptian Nebibit, meaning "leopard."

_Obutsu_ = dirt; dust; garbage


	10. Chapter 10: Teatime

**Chapter 10: Tea-time**

_Huff, huff,_ a man was sprinting down the alleys of seventh district, sweat pouring down his face and a bag too feminine to be his dangling from his hand. He was fighting the urge to look back over his shoulder, set on escaping the vicious creature he'd run into.

Little did he know there was no use.

"Left at the T-junction, then right at the next. I think he's trying to escape to the subway." Uiharu's voice was trickling into Kuroko's ear through her earplug, sounding a bit mechanical due to the headset the flowery girl was wearing back in their office.

"Roger that." Kuroko answered, and then teleported further ahead.

The man could see the entrance to the subway just as he turned another corner; it was right there, in the bustling street. If he could only reach it, get underground, he could hide in the throng of people and get away… His hand clenched the purse harder.

Someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Guwah –" He let out a strange noise as his whole body suddenly turned 90 degrees, and his eyes were no longer looking at the entrance to the subway, but right up into the sky – and then his back hit the ground.f

The longhaired girl stepped forward and looked down at him with an almost pitiful expression on her face. "This is Judgment…"

XXX

_Really, first thing in the morning, they are already out breaking the law._ Kuroko sighed deeply as she trudged down the alleyway half an hour later, taking the shortest route back to continue her patrol after having turned the criminal over to Anti-Skill. _And it wasn't the chameleon either…_ Indeed, it would be too easy if they stumbled upon their main prey like that. This guy was a completely normal, boring thug with no future, trying to get by with stealing purses in broad daylight, and plainly visible on the sidewalk too. The invisible purse robber had been strangely silent these last days too; only one incident had been reported late in the evening yesterday, and by the time Judgment got to the scene, he was long gone.

"Oh well…" she sighed, and then looked up when she heard the sound of ruckus again; looking down the alley to her right, she was just able to see the forms of two girls with a fierce grip on each other, one pushing the other further into the alley and out of sight. Kuroko sighed and pulled out her phone, calling Uiharu almost automatically while she stepped forward into the alley. This was not Anti-Skill business, since it was clearly just a ruffle between two students, so there was no need to call them.

"Shirai-san?" Uiharu's voice sounded.

"I'm stepping in to break up a fight between two students. Stay on alert in case I need assistance."

"Hai!"

Kuroko hung up and determinedly ran into the alley. _What a lively morning this turns out to be. _Pressing herself flat against the wall, she stealthily looked around the corner. The alley ended in a dead end; she could see the two girls up against the wall. Apparently the one closest to her had a grip on the other, though there were no sounds; was she trying to suffocate her?

Her hands forming into fists, Kuroko prepared to step forward – just when the girl against the wall let out a deep moan. "Oh, oh, Sakura -!"

It certainly did not sound like she was being suffocated. Kuroko stopped still and watched the scene, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. The girl who was pressed to the wall wound her arms around the neck of the other one; Kuroko could see their faces for a moment, and their mouths that were locked in a deep, heartfelt kiss.

Her face was suddenly burning hot. _Not only are they making out so suspiciously in a back alley, but they're both girls!_ She should turn around and leave, but found herself frozen to the spot, enthralled. She'd seen a boy and girl make out before, but this was a different view altogether. Her heart beat like a drummer on drugs.

Just as she stood there and couldn't make her body move any way at all, her cell phone suddenly rang. Reacting with a jerk, she instantly teleported away before the girls could turn around and see her. Appearing back on the main street, she pulled out her phone and answered it. "What?" She might have growled a bit fiercer than she intended to.

"I just wanted to say that if you need backup, you should call Konori-senpai, since I have to go to another case." Uiharu's voice came.

Kuroko's cheeks blushed again. "Never mind about that." She barked. "It turned out to be false alarm."

"Oh… well, that's good then. So there was no fight?"

_Just like her to ask that!_ Kuroko wheezed in her mind. "It was nothing at all – just a couple of girls having some fun and –" Her face froze as she realized what she'd just said.

"Fun?" Uiharu said. "You mean they were playing?" Perhaps she was imagining a couple of elementary school girls playing catch. Kuroko did not.

"H-hai." She stuttered. "Anyway, I'll continue my patrol now."

"Ah, right! I need to hurry too!" She hung up.

Kuroko let out a deep breath. _Really, giving me such trouble by showing their unashamed display in public._ _And two girls at that! Anyone would think they were fighting! _

XXX

Kazari gave a deep sigh of relief; she couldn't possibly tell Shirai-san she was leaving the office early to go shopping with Saten-san. She could just imagine her expression if she knew. _But Konori-senpai said it was okay, so!_ She smiled brightly, and left the office with a wave to her senior. Sundays were usually a day off, but there seemed to be so much to do now that they'd opted for working anyway. Being the newest member, Kazari hadn't dared protest. However Konori-senpai gave her some leave since she was new.

She had a feeling she should seize the offer while it was there.

XXX

Kuroko kept walking down the street, cursing to herself for being so unsettled by a mere lover's show in a back alley. Though who could blame her? She was on patrol, and by behaving so suspiciously they literally screamed for attention! She huffed just as she passed by the windows of an arcade, the games inside flashing with colorful lights. She wondered for a moment whether any of those games were actually any _fun_ when the entrance doors only a few meters away opened, and a familiar form exited the building.

Her stomach did a weird flip at the sight, and she stopped in the middle of the pavement. _From one bother to the other…_

Misaka-san hadn't seen her yet, apparently busy checking over the coins in her hand as she walked out onto the sidewalk. _Are those arcade coins? _Kuroko frowned, trying to calm down her racing heart. _She's really into things like this, isn't she? Game arcades, reading manga… being stupid… _Looking at the upperclassman without her knowing felt almost criminal in some sense. And why did she seem so much more likable from this distance? She remembered the episode in the office yesterday, and her stomach twisted painfully.

She had just started looking for another route to taketo avoid the upperclassman (_teleporting to the roof should do it…)_ when the girl in question put the coins in her skirt's pocket and looked up and saw her.

"Oh – hey there!" She beamed and waved a hand, coming closer.

Kuroko reddened and defiantly looked another way. "I don't have time to exchange pleasantries with you today."

"Really?" Misaka-san gazed at her contemplatively. "Lots of work to do at Judgment?"

_How can she seem so nonchalant when we parted on such a note yesterday?_ Kuroko pursed her lips, but she felt no desire to argue with her today. Thanks to the ice cream time-out with Uiharu yesterday, both of the upperclassmen was gone by the time they got back to the office. She had looked forward to not seeing Misaka-san at all until Monday, and if it was up to her, not even then. Just her luck to meet her while on patrol.

"I am patrolling, if you failed to notice." She said at last. "In this weather one should not stop too long, or else one might catch cold." It was a plausible excuse, but it sounded horribly shallow even in her ears.

Misaka-san gazed at her for a moment, and then smiled again. "Then, would you care for a cup of tea?"

"Eh?" Her eyes widened; she wondered if she'd heard wrong.

The older student put her hands on her waist and looked out onto the street. "Well, a hot cup of tea helps fight off the cold, and I'm bored anyway, so what do you think?"

"Gh –" Kuroko looked away. "Didn't you hear? I'm on patrol! A Judgment member cannot merely abandon their duty just because you're bored and want to drink _tea_."

"I guess that's true." Misaka-san said, and sighed. "I guess your patrols helps fight off _some _of the morons at least." She suddenly stretched her arms over her head, as if warming up for a workout. A burning sensation entered Kuroko's cheeks, and she hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth. _What is _wrong _with me-? _

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then." Misaka-san said, and turned to walk away.

"W-wait!" Kuroko was appalled at her own mouth; she even stretched her hand out as if trying to stop the other girl from leaving by reaching for her.

Misaka-san stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

Kuroko stared at her for a second, heat rising from her chest to her face at an alarming rate. _What now-? _She hurriedly retracted her hand that was suspended in mid-air. "I – I… actually_…_ I would like a cup of tea." _What am I doing-? Stop, stop! Mayday! _She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to make her mind think logically.

"Huuuh – saying that while shaking your head doesn't make much sense, but I guess that's just a quirk of yours." Misaka-san said dryly. The she smiled. "I know a nice place without a throng of people; it's not too far from here."

XXX

Before she knew it, Kuroko was sitting in a chair opposite of her upperclassman, at a table in a small café located in the corner of a less crowded street. She was staring into the table, still feeling a burning sensation on her cheeks, and bit her lip uneasily. _What am I doing here?_

Smiling, Misaka-san reached for the menu. "What do you want, Kuroko?"

The equivalent of a volcanic rupture exploded in her head. "K-K-_Kuroko_?" What happened with _Shirai-san_ or _Kuroko-san_ or at least _some_ form of respective address?

"That _is _your name, isn't it?" Misaka-san asked while studying the menu. "Since you always call me _Onee-sama_, I figured we're close enough to use each other's first names."

Kuroko bristled, her pigtails threatening with ripping apart the very ribbons tying them up. _Trapped by my own ploy? Or is it a challenge?_ She drew a deep, calming breath, and then looked up with a smile plastered on her face. _I'm not going to let her get to me. _

"O-of course, I'm honored you think of it like that, Onee-sama." Her grin felt awfully awkward.

Misaka-san didn't even react with as much as a blink. She kept studying the menu. "Yeah, I gave it some thought and figured you could have given me way worse nicknames, so I guess I've kind of grown into it."

Kuroko's hands trembled, and she folded them on the table, trying to keep her smile in place as naturally as possible. _Is she really okay with me calling her that all of a sudden? And what's up with this friendly atmosphere! How does that mind of hers work anyway?_

At the moment, they were sitting at a café like any normal young girls wanting to escape the grey weather outside, seeming to the whole world as nothing but best friends. Mercilessly, the words of Hitomi-san rang through her head: _"It's an excellent opportunity, don't you think?" _She closed her eyes tightly. _Shut up!_ Both Hitomi-san and Uiharu-san had the wrong idea; _nobody_ would want to get to know this moron better, and her warm cheeks were just a result of the sudden hotness inside the café compared to the air outside.

She suddenly had a burning urge to sip her teacup, and realized they hadn't ordered any yet. _Don't tell me it's the kind of café where you order at the counter? _She didn't think her legs would be able to bear her weight at the moment. As if called by her will alone, a waitress suddenly appeared by their table. "How may I help you?" She smiled sweetly. Kuroko breathed a silent sigh of relief. Of course, any Tokiwadai student with respect for themselves would choose cafés with table serving.

"It doesn't look like you have gyokuro, so we'll have two tamaryokucha." Misaka-san said, before Kuroko could even start to think about what she wanted. "And we'll have the leaves steamed, please."

Kuroko's ears twitched. She gazed skeptically at the older student while she exchanged words with the waitress, almost analyzing her from across the table. _She knows tea…? _Saying looks could fool wouldn't really do justice. Despite her outrageous behavior, Misaka-san actually had the looks of a proper _ojou-sama_, so perhaps one shouldn't be too surprised if she had some of the qualities expected in that kind of girl as well. In fact, calling her anything but good-looking would be a crime, and her face lit up pleasantly whenever she smiled like this...

Kuroko frowned, and then_, _as if hit by lightning, it struck her; that _smile_. It was the same kind of smile she'd sported back with the kitten; a natural smile with no trace of underlying frustration or falseness. Whenever they met, she'd always seemed bored, or would be scowling, or at best be playing the innocent, nice girl she did at school, sporting smiles that were obviously not honest. But this smile, this… was completely different.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she was struck by a sudden panic; trying to calm herself, she stiffened like a pole and concentrated on breathing slowly. Since the waitress had left, Misaka-san looked at her strangely. "What's up with you? Breath exercises?"

"Gh." Kuroko forced her smile back in place, hoping her face looked somewhat normal. "Nothing at all, Onee-sama. I was just… surprised you know green teas so well." She was sweating. It was like waiting for the predator to make its move, as if this setting of friendly conversation was just an act to lower her defenses. There was no other explanation; most likely Misaka-san was planning something to get back at her for all the insults. Certainly the episode yesterday had yet to leave her mind; Kuroko was still bothered by it, after all. It even still pricked her pride that she had apologized, and why had she anyway? Well of course, the whole office might have been scorched if she'd acted stubborn; that was probably it…

"Well, that's a given," Misaka-san said, leaning back into her chair with her arms and legs crossed, "I had tea ceremony class during my first year, after all. I remember most of it, even if it _was_ boring." She sighed and looked out the window to their side, up at the sky.

_Somehow I utterly fail at imagining you in such a class_. Kuroko thought, and determinedly stomped it down before she could imagine Misaka-san in a kimono (though it was too late).

"It looks like it'll rain." Misaka-san muttered.

Kuroko looked outside as well, glad for some distraction from her haywire imagination. The skies were steadily darkening. A huge mass of bluish-black clouds could be seen on the horizon.

"I guess Academy City's weather forecast is correct again." She commented. "They said there would be a downpour around noon."

Misaka-san hmm'ed, seemingly not very interested.

XXX

In another part of district 7, Ruiko successfully flipped Kazari's skirt in the middle of the mall.

XXX

The steaming tea actually felt good to her body, though Kuroko was reluctant to admit it. For the next ten minutes they sipped their tea in silence, and while Kuroko would usually welcome such peace, she found herself aching for something to happen. She was carefully scanning the café every now and then, noting the few other guests in there.

The doors opened to allow a couple of shady looking guys enter; they seemed to scan the entire room, lingering just slightly on their table in particular, before walking over to a free table and plopping down. _Better keep an eye on them. _She'd taken off her armband earlier, not wanting everyone to see a Judgment member on duty sitting here like a work-avoider; otherwise, the sight of the green Judgment armband would usually keep anyone from acting recklessly.

She looked back at Misaka-san. The other girl was quiet and seemed bored, her eyes having lost that sparkle from earlier as she gazed into her teacup unseeingly. _Is something bothering her?_ Kuroko gazed into her own teacup, at the swirling green tea tinted with almond and berries. Sitting like this, two quiet girls at a table for two, they surely looked like friends that had just had an argument, or maybe, a couple about to break up – she hurriedly gulped down another mouthful of tea and started coughing violently.

"You trying to burn off your tongue or something?" Misaka-san asked, watching her soberly.

Kuroko punched her chest to stop the coughing. Then she breathed deeply for a couple of seconds, before looking back up at the older girl. "Why did you invite me here?"

"Huh?"

"Did you merely want company to your tea-sipping and talk about the weather?" She huffed. "If that really is all, I might as well get back to my patrol. I am still on duty, after all."

"Hmm." Misaka-san gazed back into her teacup. Then she said: "I guess I was just bored. You know," she sighed, "there's way too little to do around here."

_She has a leisure time problem? _Kuroko was unimpressed. Most students would spend their free time worrying about homework or the development of their ability, but this girl probably faced none of those concerns. Somehow, it was hard to pity her. "You were in the arcade earlier, weren't you? Why don't you spend the whole day in there if you're so bored?"

"Well, playing games all alone has a limited amount of entertainment value, and even those 'ability games' aren't designed to be used by a level five, so there's no fun in those either."

"They're not?" Kuroko couldn't help the surprise. She'd never bothered with trying any of those games out, but knew they were popular amongst many students. There were different kinds of games for different kinds of abilities, and they gave out points for how well you mastered your ability.

"I guess the expenses of making a game that can withstand one billion volts of electricity are far too high compared to the gains." Misaka-san said. "It's not like there's an overflow of level fives in this place, you know? Please the masses, and all that. Not that it matters, spending the whole day inside an arcade seems like a waste of time if you ask me." She sighed, and then sipped her tea again.

Kuroko frowned, and resisted the urge to ask what those coins from earlier was for if not for playing. Nor did she feel like pointing out the fact that if it was so bothersome being high level, she shouldn't have worked so hard to reach it.

"Why don't you bring some of your fan girls for company, then?" She asked. A smug smile appeared on her lips. "I am certain they would faint on the spot."

"Are you trying to be funny?" Misaka-san huffed. "If I did, I would never get rid of that ridiculous _Misaka Mikoto Fan Club_. It's already annoying with the attention I'm getting now; if I started inviting them out with me, I could as well join the club." She sighed deeply; for being so popular, she sure made it sound like a pain.

"Then, what do you usually do after school?" Kuroko asked. "You're not stand-reading manga or kicking vending machines every day, are you?" Right now, she felt like she wouldn't be surprised if the answer was yes.

"Of course not." Misaka-san huffed again. "You talk like I'm some kind of delinquent." She swirled her tea around thoughtfully. "Usually I roam the city, do some shopping or go to the book store, when I don't have violin practice that is."

_Bang!_ Kuroko could swear she heard the sound of her jaw hitting the table, and she gazed in horror at the girl in front of her.

"What are you suddenly showing off you uvula for?" Misaka-san asked dryly, though there was a slight pinkish color on her cheeks.

"You – you play the _violin_?" Kuroko's voice somehow sounded even more croaked than usual. For the upstart to even have a decent hobby was unreal; it didn't fit her personality at all. Certainly, if someone made a movie about her, the movie poster would be absolutely ridiculous: The title,_ The Railgun,_ printed at the top in blue, zig-zag styled letters on a background of black thunderclouds, several lightning strikes underneath, following with a picture of Misaka-san – playing a violin with a serene look on her face, dressed in a kimono.

She clasped her hands over her mouth to keep from bursting into laughter, but it didn't help.

"You know, that's not the reaction I usually get when people find out," Misaka-san said over the sound of her laughter, obviously ticked off, and steadily reddening. "You're supposed to go 'aaah, Misaka-sama, you're so mature!', or, I guess in your case I should expect something along the lines of 'you probably play the _electric_ violin, you numbskull!'"

Kuroko gasped for breath, but Misaka-san's words only made her burst into laughter again, and she leant on the table in order to not fall off her chair. "Aahahahaaa, I can't – breathe!"

Misaka-san defiantly turned her head away. "Whatever! I don't care about your opinion anyway!"

Tears were gushing from her eyes due to her laughing so hard. It seemed to release some of the stress in her body; at any rate, it was much better than being all tensed up. The image of Misaka-san adorning the stage in a pink-colored kimono, playing an electric violin on a ridiculously loud volume to a hauntingly stunned audience was just too much.

Misaka-san gritted her teeth, and then she suddenly stood up, banging her hand into the table so their cups sprayed tea onto the tabletop. "Shut up, you moron! Don't ask for people's hobbies if all you do is laugh at them! Jeez!" Rather than just being angry, though, her expression also seemed utterly embarrassed.

Kuroko wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket and suddenly noticed the two men standing beside their table; her laughter died instantly._ I lowered my guard!_

The men that had been staring at them earlier when they entered the café were now grinning broadly, sizing them up with glossy eyes. "Hey girls, you seem to be having fun. Mind if we join in?"

She stood up from her chair abruptly and opened her mouth to answer them when Misaka-san suddenly sighed deeply. She was still standing, and with one hand on her waist, her face once again sported that familiar, bored expression, not a trace of the previous embarrassment left. "Seriously, can't a girl even enjoy a cup of tea without being bothered by morons and gibbons?"

"Now, now," one of the guys said, "don't be so thorny, we just wanted to have a chat. You ojou-samas know how to act your manners, right?" He reached out a hand for Misaka-san's shoulder – however just as his fingers were mere centimeters away from touching the fabric of her school jacket, there was a small sound, like a _buzz_, and the man cried out and withdrew his hand, grasping it with the other and shaking it furiously.

"What the hell man, what happened?" His buddy crowed, uneasily looking from him to Kuroko to Mikoto.

"What the fuck, it stung like a bee!" He glared at Misaka-san. "What the hell is up with you?"

"You know, you should probably pick your targets better." Misaka-san offered with a haughty throw of her head. "I don't care about your motives though. Just get lost."

Kuroko tensed; she doubted they'd grasp Misaka-san's warning as exactly that. She looked over at the counter, and saw the waitress watching the scene uneasily. They would have procedures for what to do in case of any disturbances; most likely she would contact Anti-Skill the moment the situation escalated. In the meantime, it would be up to Kuroko to stop any violence.

"You fucking bitch, you're not telling me what to do!" The man was already agitated at Misaka-san's attitude, and the scene could get nasty if this kept up.

Kuroko stepped forward determinedly: "Onee-sama, it would be best if you leave this matter to me."

Misaka-san fumed, but then huffed and turned her head away. "Fine, since you Judgment folks actually are here on time for once, I'll let you handle it." She didn't seem very bothered by the angry guy standing before her. Such a scene was probably unique to Academy City; there was no reason for the small girl being threatened by a big guy to be scared at all. Though these men obviously didn't know that.

"You fucking brat, I don't take shit from spoilt kids!" Announcing this, he moved in to punch – Kuroko reached out to grab his arm, but right at that moment, there was an incredibly loud CRACKLE, and a bluish light struck out and hit him squarely in the chest. The man cried out in pain and fell to the floor, steam rising steadily from his clothes and fingers twitching weakly. _Um…_ A sweat-drop slowly travelled down the side of her face. Her hand still lingered in the air; a few more centimeters and she would have joined him in his sleep.

"I don't think I heard you clearly there." Misaka-san's bright smile seemed rather scary when accompanied by the blue crackles from her temple.

"Jesus, what _are _you?" The other guy cried, backing off from the middle school girl. Kuroko shook off her shock and stepped forward and grabbed his arm, twisted it around in a painful arm lock and then cuffed his wrists together all in one smooth motion.

"This is Judgment," she said, "you are under arrest for assault."

"Ow-ow-ow!" The man cried as he succumbed and knelt on the floor.

Though no-one could claim that they had been anywhere near hurting them, they were still the culprits. Of course, they had obviously picked the wrong target. She almost felt sorry for the guys.

"Sheesh, you'd think _some_ of these thugs talk to each other – how come they never learn?" Misaka-san sighed, running a hand through her hair as a last bluish crackle left her fringe.

Kuroko's mouth twitched. "What a violent woman Onee-sama turns out to be..." She muttered and cuffed the man on the floor with her spare handcuffs. "Vending machines, kittens, regular citizens… I wonder if she has some kind of minority complex from when she was little…"

"Don't mutter strange things to yourself!"

The waitress came running over. "Oh my, I'm so sorry! I called Anti-Skill!" She said, and stopped right in front of them. "Are you okay?"

"We're alright, thank you very much." Kuroko said levelly. Looking at the woman, she said; "Actually, I'm impressed you didn't panic."

"Oh, no." The waitress waved a hand and giggled. "This happens at least once a week; I'm getting quite used to it by now."

"Eh?"

"Really?" Both Kuroko and Mikoto stared at her.

She giggled again. "It's quite alright. Just leave this mess to me. Oh, and you don't have to pay for your drinks of course."

"Aah… thanks."

XXX

Once outside, one could definitively say both girls felt like the day had been very normal in a somewhat extraordinary way. Kuroko couldn't shake the feeling that she had just experienced another of Misaka-san's usual past time activities. _Playing the violin really doesn't suit her…_

"Thanks for joining me to tea, even if it ended kind of violently…" Misaka-san had a sheepish grin on her face.

"You really ought to stop taking the law in your own hands," Kuroko huffed, though she didn't feel as put off as she thought she would. "If the higher-ups find out you're doing whatever you want like this, you'll be in trouble."

"Heeh, I imagine the higher-ups have better things to do than tracing my every move… besides, they attacked first, so it was justified self-defense, right?" Misaka-san said this so confidently one would have to put up a filter to not be smitten.

"You even said you would leave it to me! If you suddenly change your mind like that, at least give me a warning; I was barely able to avoid it!" This was, in fact, cause for slight concern; she would rather not be hit by that kind of lightning strike if she had a choice.

Misaka-san suddenly had a rose-colored blush in her cheeks, and barked: "Well what do you expect me to do when he charges at me like that? Of course I'd defend myself!"

Kuroko frowned. "You just got mad at him for calling you a brat, didn't you?"

"Ack – don't be ridiculous! Haha!" Her instant denial and forced laugh was quite the give-away.

Kuroko sighed. "No matter, but you still cannot go about frying people like that. Someone could get seriously hurt."

"You think I don't know how to control my own ability?" Misaka-san lifted her chin proudly. "Give me some credit, will you. I'm not called Tokiwadai's Railgun for show."

_Conceited!_ Kuroko resisted the urge to smack her over the head. "You –"

"Aah, there he is!" Misaka-san abruptly cut her off, pointing an accusing finger at random into the crowd on the plaza ahead.

Kuroko looked ahead too, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just a street with pedestrians and shops, much like a second ago. "What? Who?"

"Gekota!" She declared, determination settling in her expression; following the general direction of the pointing finger, Kuroko could just barely see the flash of something green in-between the crowd, like… a giant frog suit.

"G-gekota…" She muttered, feeling her stomach sink. _One moment she's acting like the toughest guerilla in town, the next she's like an elementary school student._ "You really like that kind of character?"

"Kh – haha, don't be stupid!" Misaka-san suddenly laughed loudly and hurriedly rubbed her neck. "Who cares about something like that nowadays? Gekota is for kids, kids."

"Err…" Kuroko found it hard to comment; Misaka-san's slightly pink cheeks and her initial behavior hardly fit with this claim.

"Oh, that's right!" Her upperclassman suddenly perked; "I promised um, that kid, yeah, you know, the blind and deaf one, he really wanted one of those special edition, limited Gekota figures they're handing out only this weekend – I better go get one while he's still here, you know." She laughed loudly, not even once looking at Kuroko.

_She…_ Kuroko had a sinking feeling in her chest, _…really sucks at lying._

"Ah, well, anyway, got to go, see you around, Kuroko!" And with those hurried words she was off, quickly lost within the crowd ahead.

Kuroko was left watching after her with a baffled expression on her face. What was with that girl? She couldn't seem to figure her out at all. Yesterday they had a serious confrontation after a series of insults, and today, she was suddenly acting like they were old friends. _Makes no sense at all._ Sighing, she turned, set on continuing her much delayed patrol.

She hadn't walked more than a few meters though, before:

"Rendezvousing with Misaka Mikoto so boldly out in the open, are you?" Her throat filled with a very sour tasting goo as she turned around; in front of her stood a smirking girl flanked by her two stone-faced servants. Asanuma Reiko had a sarcastic grin on her face and an open umbrella over her shoulder, most likely in preparation for the down-pour to come. "And a mere first-year too; are you perhaps one of her wooed fangirls?"

"Guh…" Kuroko was surprised at seeing this girl outside the Garden, and even more surprised at having her talk to her. She might as well have been a model out strolling with her two bodyguards; she surely attracted enough attention.

_I guess she doesn't recognize me…_ Truthfully, when she had met her outside school together with Hitomi-san, the third-year had barely even offered her a glance. And even then, it was almost a week since that happened. However, the brown-haired girl with a ponytail, Unabara Ryoko, was glaring at her quite venomously. Whether it was because she recognized her and harbored some strange hatred towards her, or if it was because Kuroko currently held the attention of her beloved Asanuma-san was anyone's guess.

"I'll have you warned that anyone trying to get close to that girl is sooner or later severely hurt." Asanuma-san said, one hand elegantly pushing a lock of hair behind her shoulder.

"Hurt?" Kuroko said dryly. "Are you threatening me? Hah!" She gave a haughty snort. "If you think I will be scared by you and your cattle bellowing at me, you will be disappointed."

"How dare you!" Unabara Ryoko suddenly barked, seemingly only hindered from leaping at her by the hand the Chinese looking girl (Fasu Niba was it?) had on her arm.

Asanuma-san huffed in displease. "I am talking about Misaka-san herself, of course. You might be blinded by your admiration of her famous status as a level five, but in reality Misaka-san is a rather brusque girl. She has no constraints when it comes to flaunting her so-called power about, and her temper is rather scary, or so I hear."

"You _hear_?" Kuroko repeated, deadpan. She couldn't very well argue with any of it, but she couldn't help the comment. "You do not even take your time to confirm the facts before you spit them out in their ruminated state?"

Unabara-san was positively glowing with rage by now; Fasu-san whispered something in her ear, and she seemed to calm down a bit.

Asanuma-san sighed. "I do not have the time to get to know every single student in our school, be they level five or some lord's daughter from god-knows-where." That was her justified explanation.

"In that case, please refrain from spreading such crude rumors." Kuroko said.

Asanuma-san stepped forward a notch and leaned down, and gently stroked a finger over Kuroko's cheek, making the pigtailed girl twitch. "I am merely issuing you a warning as a concerned fellow schoolmate," she murmured, "be thankful I even noticed you two out here."

Kuroko stepped back slightly, breaking the contact between them. A burning sensation lingered on her skin, and she forced herself to swallow. "I appreciate your concern, but I can look after myself, thank you."

Asanuma-san gave her a solemn look, and then straightened up. "Oh dear, you are already blinded, are you not?" She put an elegant hand to hear forehead as if in pity. "I do hope you come to see the truth soon enough… at least I have done my duty in trying to warn you."

The third-years passed by her, and Asanuma-san's companions' gazes burned in the back of Kuroko's head for a long time afterwards.

* * *

Note:

When I write, I constantly visualize what's going on in manga or anime format to help me keep them in character – but while it might look cool in my head, I wonder what pops into other's heads when they read it afterwards…

Words and terms:

**Gyokuro** (玉露) is a fine and expensive type of green tea from Japan. It differs from the standard green tea known as sencha (煎茶), because it is grown under the shade rather than the full sun. It is one of the most expensive teas in Japan.

**Tamaryokucha** (玉緑茶) is a fine Japanese green tea that has a tangy, berry-like taste, with a long almondy aftertaste and a deep aroma with tones of citrus, grass, and berries. It can be processed in one of two ways to destroy the enzymes: pan fried, or steamed. Many believe that steaming preserves the vitamins and antioxidants better than pan-frying. The taste varies between the two as well. The pan-fried version has more of an aroma of cooked vegetables.

Next time: Less tea, more... things


	11. Chapter 11: Monday Blues

**Chapter 11: Monday Blues**

"Just like you to leave your backpack in the office, eh?" Ruiko laughed as they reached the top of the stairs of the rebuilt apartment building that housed Judgment 177th branch. It was late Sunday evening, and almost curfew. Their hands were full of shopping bags, telling just how good today's sale had been.

"I haven't even worked here for more than two days; saying it's 'just like me' is a bit early." Kazari said levelly and opened the door, and as she did someone yelled from the inside: "What do you mean, 'he's not here anymore'!"

Kazari flinched. Looking inside, she saw Konori-senpai with the office phone to her ear. She was the only one there; Shirai-san must have gone home already. Not noticing her guests, Konori-senpai pushed up her glasses that were about to fall off and continued: "What! People don't just _leave_ Academy City! Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Eh, what's going on?" Ruiko leaned over Kazari's shoulder to see as well. Konori-senpai's desk was littered with print-outs of faces and names; they all had notes made by hand. Nebi the cat sat on top of one of them, licking his paw.

The older Judgment member growled: "Well I don't care if he's got cancer or gonorrhea; why would he just quit school and leave the city? Is that even allowed? God, this pisses me off!" And she hung up with a very fierce push on the button, in lack of the kind of phone one could throw onto its handler. Kazari stared at her with a strained face, not knowing whether to intrude or not. Konori-senpai sat down in her chair harshly and sighed. Then she suddenly noticed them in the door and turned towards them. "Oh, it's you." She gave another sigh.

"Are you still working on the robber case suspects?" Kazari asked, eying all the print-outs on her desk.

"Well, I wanted to get finished before curfew. That was the last suspect." Konori-senpai said, grabbing a red pen on her desk. "Like you probably heard, it was another dead end. I guess when the database says he's left the city, that's exactly what it means." She grabbed the paper underneath Nebi and dragged it away, earning herself a mewing complaint. On the paper was an image of a teenage boy and his data's; Konori-senpai made a huge X on his face.

"People really leave Academy City?" Ruiko asked wondrously. Kazari thought the same thing. She'd never given it any consideration, but some people did leave Academy City after all, didn't they? She wondered for a minute how that would be, returning to the outside world to live your life, wielding powers no-one else had… Surely there were strict rules in order to do so, more than when they left the city for vacations and such (and even then, she always found it a bit awkward to come home; everything was just so different).

"Well, that's it." Konori-senpai said lightly, leaning back into her chair with a smile. "No more suspects. Great. Nobody's guilty. This chameleon is so invisible he doesn't even exist! Haha!"

Kazari sweat-dropped. It seemed like Konori-senpai was nearing the brink of insanity here. "Could they be using a camouflage device?" She suggested, making the older Judgment member sigh even deeper and look at her desk.

"I actually am starting to think along those lines as well." She said. "But this is Anti-Skill's job in the first place; investigating something like that is their jurisdiction. The only thing I can do now is to interrogate the victims again." She gave another sigh, and then smacked the pen into the table. "Who the heck steals purses only from middle school girls in the first place? If he's got such an amazing device, why not rob a bank or a jewelry store? Aaah, this makes less and less sense!"

Kazari had no smart answer to give to that. It was a mystery for sure.

XXX

Monday.

Normally, if one was to ask a certain twin-pigtailed girl what she thought of this day in particular, you'd receive a deadpan stare; in other words, she had nothing to say about it. It was a another day of the week, nothing else. Contrary to most normal students, Shirai Kuroko did not regard Monday as the day of Hell and Abomination, the cursed first day of school after the weekend. Indeed, she was quite uninterested in labels like that, as was the majority of the girls in Tokiwadai middle school.

However, this Monday of her fourth week at Tokiwadai seemed somehow different from usual. Truthfully, the fact that the guidance week was over and so she didn't have to eat breakfast with Sumone-san or Misaka-san (yet she still ended up sharing a table with Hitomi-san and some of her friends), made this Monday different from last week.

But that was not it. She couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but something was odd. There were girls whispering and giggling amongst themselves, excited gossipers on every corner, and dreamy glances thrown after the senior students; much like any other day. There was no reason to think differently.

And still… something felt off.

_Perhaps I am being apprehensive because of _her_. _Kuroko glared at a life-sized poster on the wall, and could almost feel the stinging eyes of Asanuma Reiko staring back. The image, which was obviously done by a professional photographer in some gallery, made the third-year look like she was modeling for a make-up commercial rather than trying to be elected as student council president. It was only one of many motives; the posters might as well have been a series of photographs of a movie star in a fashion magazine. Once again she had to fight the urge to teleport them off the wall and into the nearest trash bin. Considering she'd been feeling like doing that for some time already though, it couldn't possibly be why today felt like an unusual day.

She frowned, trying to identify the unsettling feeling in her gut. In the end, it was probably _her_ fault. That other upperclassman who gave the word _weird _complete justice. Misaka-san's smiling face entered her mind – that true, pure smile from yesterday. Her cheeks were burning all of a sudden, and she shook her head as she continued her trek down the hallway towards her classroom. _It definitively is her fault. Catching me off guard like that – what's she trying to achieve by acting so nonchalant? _She fumed.

Someone giggled as they walked past behind her; she ignored them, having gotten used to the antics of the students at this school by now. Even though she'd realized that not all of them were hopeless braincases with no grasp on the real world, gathering 200 teenage girls in one building would definitively bring forth some kind of unique behavior.

Then again… It wasn't that she particularly cared, but wasn't there an unusual amount of whispering and giggling in the hallways today? She tried to remember how it had been at Friday, but could remember nothing but the episode with Hitomi-san in the morning and Hiraga-sensei's shocking lecture during class. Perhaps she was just jumpy today.

XXX

"And so, Uiharu passed the Judgment tests on Friday; this means we now have an official Judgment member in our class." Class 1B's homeroom teacher at Sakugawa middle school, Daigo-sensei, proudly announced this to his class first thing in the morning. Kazari stood at her desk stiff as a pole while her classmates applauded; Shimawata-san and Kunita-san cheered loudly.

Smiling, Daigo-sensei continued: "If any of you have any troubles, please do not hesitate to contact Uiharu about it. Haha, I guess you'll be swamped with work now, Uiharu!" He grinned at her. Kazari sweat-dropped and nervously stuttered 'hai' as an answer, before finally being allowed to sit down.

"Your grades will mysteriously go up for sure now, Uiharu!" Ruiko whispered gleefully at her back. Kazari sighed, but a small seed of happiness was blossoming inside her chest. She felt like she'd been thrown into Judgment work so quickly, she almost forgot to feel happy about making it. Now she felt like it was real; she really was a Judgment member. For the rest of the class, a smile was plastered on her face.

XXX

While she was turning off her computer after English class, Kuroko was approached by Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san. They were both smiling shyly, as usual.

"Shirai-san, good morning." Awatsuki-san greeted. Her wavy brown hair looked just as well-kept as always, and just like the other girls, she seemed to have grown into feeling comfortable wearing the uniform.

"Ah, good morning." Kuroko said, though it was hardly morning anymore; in just a few minutes they would be having lunch. To be exact, one should say "good midday". Alas, the norms didn't work that way. She noticed several girls from a parallel class looking their way briefly before giggling amongst themselves, and frowned. The teachers didn't mind the students mingling in each other's classes during recess, but some days it resulted in their classroom being literally packed.

Seriously though… "What's their problem?" She muttered, as the girls kept giggling and excitedly twittered on with their friends from her class, throwing them badly hidden looks.

Awatsuki-san gave a small smile that failed to come off as completely natural. "Um, Shirai-san…" She started, then shared a look with Wannai-san. Kuroko gazed expectantly at her. "Um, well, you see… we figured you wouldn't know yet, so we wanted to tell you about it…"

"About _what_?" She bit out, though it was a result of the worry gathering in her chest rather than real irritation.

Awatsuki-san continued to smile forcibly. "There are… some rumors…"

"Hah, well of course there are." Kuroko laughed overbearingly. "Rumors are a part of everyday life in this place. It seems the students here feed on the very prospect of spreading stories and gossip." She heroically tried to put off her worry by acting nonchalant.

Awatsuki-san's face was red as she stared at the floor, and Wannai-san was the one who reluctantly had to go on: "These rumors… are about you."

Kuroko stared into the air silently, face frozen in a grin. Whatever people said about her, she couldn't care less. That was her initial thought. And then again, this was the school she was supposed to attend for three whole years. If some horrible rumors were spreading around defiling her reputation, in the worst case scenario she could end up being bothered every single day, and even though she'd ignore strange looks and whispering giggles, some things were harder to ignore than others. In her old class, there was a boy who had been bullied every single day for four years – even though the teachers knew how the other boys hid his clothes during gym class or locked him in the toilet during recess (not that _that_ would hinder her), it never got better. No matter how confident she was in her own ability to survive and ignore, she didn't particularly wish for it to happen.

Her expression faltered somewhat.

"To be more precise, they're about you and… Hitomi-san…" Wannai-san continued, pulling Kuroko out of her reminiscence.

"Eh?" Her eyes widened. _Don't tell me that comment on Friday was…_ She remembered that whisper as if it happened this very morning: _"They're a couple."_ And just like that, the girls in that back alley popped into her head again, and felt her cheeks heating up.

Wannai-san continued: "And Misaka-sama too…"

"EH?" Her face paled rapidly; what kind of rumors could this be?

Wannai-san threw a concealed look around the classroom; then leaned a bit closer, while Awatsuki-san nervously folded her hands. The longhaired girl whispered: "They say you and Hitomi-san are a couple."

Kuroko stared at her. This was hardly news anymore; yet her body was frozen either way.

"Apparently, you were both observed in the Garden of Education last Monday, having tea at a local café." Wannai-san continued.

"Well, that would be true!" She exclaimed suddenly, a bit higher than intended; several girls looked their way again. Her thoughts were spinning wildly, but she heard the words leave her mouth without permission. "I mean the part about drinking tea!" She hurriedly added. "We're not a couple! What kind of otherworldly conception is that? We are both girls! Hah!" She forced out a laugh, but it was nowhere near as confident as she'd wanted. Her insides were in turmoil, and sweat poured down her face. "Anyway, that's old news, isn't it? Those rumors started on Friday, didn't they?"

"Um, well yes," Awatsuki-san said warily, "actually they started last week, but they seem to have accumulated over the weekend, and now everyone knows." She seemed more and more uncomfortable with every second. "But that's not all…" She wringed her hands into each other, and drew a deep breath, as if readying herself for an especially unpleasant task. "There's… Misaka-san as well. In fact, as the rumors go…"

…

"I'M _TWO-TIMING?_"

The whole cafeteria stilled for a moment.

Kuroko snapped back to the present, realizing her reaction to Awatsuki-san's words was a bit late in coming. Ever since the other girl told her, she'd been in a shocked state; just now, the reality of what she'd heard fully settled in her mind.

And it happened during lunch, in the cafeteria. What excellent timing.

"What the heck?" Misaka-san said from the other side of the table; Hitomi-san was smiling awkwardly.

Sumone-san glared at her roommate though. "You are?" She said, as if this were some mildly interesting news.

Kuroko's face glowed beet red as she sat down on her chair silently. _Kuroko, you idiot! _If the rumors hadn't been escalated already, now they'd surely shoot through the roof.

"You've heard the rumors then, I take it?" Hitomi-san said, smiling still.

Kuroko poked into her food with her chopsticks; in her daze, she hadn't even realized what she'd ordered. _What is this about adding honey on a breast of chicken anyway? Is it supposed to be luxurious?_ She looked up at Misaka-san and Sumone-san on the other side of the table._ And why are _those two _here? _The guidance week was officially over, yet many of the girls still opted for sitting together with their guides, as if they'd become best friends during last week. Today Sumone-san had tried to pull Misaka-san off to sit with her annoying little friends (Kuroko had seen their pink cheeks from the other end of the room). However Hitomi-san invited them to sit with them before she had succeeded, and while Misaka-san accepted the offer, Sumone-san had been too stunned to protest. Of course, leaving Kuroko to sit with Misaka-san and Hitomi-san alone seemed to be forbidden in Sumone-san's books, and so they ended up like this as usual. _Is there no way to escape this fate?_

"Rumors?" Misaka-san said wondrously.

"Yes, there are some rumors about Shirai-san flying around school lately," Hitomi-san said, perhaps a bit reluctantly, "or rather, about us… apparently the happening at Friday during breakfast and the fact that we have been seen talking outside school has been interpreted as if me and Shirai-san are a couple."

"Really?" Misaka-san didn't sound amused or impressed, rather she sounded mildly surprised. Kuroko shot her a quick glance. _She's not into rumors?_ Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised, but she was. Being surrounded by people everywhere she went ought to give her an ounce of the current rumors going around, but perhaps the girls didn't gossip about trivial matters around 'the ace of Tokiwadai'.

"And she's trying her luck with Misaka-sama as well." Sumone-san said, throwing a venomous glare at Kuroko. Misaka-san coughed as if choking on the noodles she'd just put in her mouth.

"Well…" Hitomi-san smiled awkwardly, while Kuroko threw Sumone-san a stinging glare back.

"W-what the heck is that about?" Misaka-san asked, pink-cheeked. "That's just –" She stopped abruptly, turning redder still.

Kuroko couldn't help her biting response. "Of course not!" She exclaimed. "They're rumors, rumors! I am certainly not – why would _anyone _–" Hitomi-san waved her hands as if trying to console them both, stopping Kuroko from finishing her sentence. Misaka-san was gritting her teeth, and Sumone-san sneered.

"Maa, maa, Shirai-san, we know they are rumors. It seems like you have become the unlucky victim of the school's curious report system." Hitomi-san said.

Kuroko huffed, her stomach doing twists and turns non-stop.

"Jeez, you sure are stingy." Misaka-san huffed. "Why would anyone think _we're_ anything but acquaintances though? It's not like we've been walking around arm in arm…" _Or been making out in an alley,_ Kuroko thought, and instantly stuffed a huge bite of meat into her mouth.

"Maybe someone saw you leering at Misaka-sama during gym class." Sumone-san said nonchalantly. Kuroko swallowed her food to retort, but before she could, Hitomi-san said: "Perhaps someone has seen you together outside school?"

At once Kuroko's face stiffened, and her chest constricted around her beating heart. _That woman…! _There was only one possible person who could have seen her and Misaka-san together and make something like _this_ grow out of it.

"Asanuma-san…" she gritted her teeth.

"Asanuma-san?" Hitomi-san asked, giving her a quizzical look.

Kuroko clenched her chopsticks tightly, her arm shaking from the suppressed rage racking her body.

XXX

"Whaaat, Kasumi-senpai was?"

"Yeah, I heard someone just bumped into her and grabbed her purse – she lost it and everything in it! Anti-Skill said to contact Judgment, and Judgment said they were 'working on it'."

Kazari was walking down the hall during lunch, planning to visit the bathroom when she heard those voices. Just outside the girl's bathroom a gang of girls stood, eagerly discussing the hottest topic on campus – the invisible robber.

"Honestly, Judgment doesn't do _anything_!" One of the girls exclaimed, making Kazari jump and look at them in surprise. The girls noticed her stare and turned around. The one who had last spoke was a girl from her own class. "Oh well, what do you know. Here's a Judgment member." Her tone was one of ridicule. Kazari stood there feeling puzzled; "Eh?"

Her classmate strode forward, hands on her hips, and glared at her. "How come you incompetent Judgment folks don't do anything to stop that robber? There have already been two victims at our school – will you even _try_ to stop it before we're all robbed?"

"Um…" Kazari was so perplexed she didn't know what to say. "We are working on it…"

The girl huffed. "Yeah, that's what you guys always say. If you're working so damn hard, how come you can't solve it? You never finish anything you start, do you?" The other girls nodded eagerly behind her back.

Kazari felt like she was being interrogated all of a sudden. Growing uneasy, she said: "O-of course we do! We solve many different cases – we're working very hard, but this case is…" She remembered the exhausted Konori-senpai from yesterday; saying they didn't work on it was hardly fair.

"Excuses, excuses!" Another girl proclaimed, stepping forward. "You think we want to listen to that crap? You're just trying to cover up the fact that you Judgment folks do nothing but chat with your friends all day long in your fancy little offices – don't you think I know?"

_How am I supposed to answer that?_ Kazari was struck speechless. Didn't these girls realize how much work Judgment actually did?

"I heard that invisible robber has a hideout in the 22nd district; how come you haven't checked that out?" The girl said. Kazari didn't know; she didn't know whether Shirai-san or Konori-senpai had checked it or even knew about it. She suddenly felt really bad for going shopping yesterday.

The girl didn't wait for her answer. "If _I _was in Judgment, I'd be ashamed at my colleagues for not being able to solve such a simple case. You lazy-asses!" And with that, they turned around and left.

Kazari stood there staring after them, feeling like she'd just been treated really unfair, and yet, a seed of uncertainty was blossoming in her stomach. _Aren't we doing the best we can? Konori-senpai said it was up to Anti-Skill, didn't she?_ But she guessed blaming Anti-Skill would do no good. Feeling let-down, she went into the bathroom at last.

XXX

"Here she comes!" Someone whispered excitedly up ahead, making Kuroko's ears twitch. She was on her way to leave school after the last bell rang; having no club activities meant she was just one of few to leave at this time. And just when she entered the lobby with the staircase and grand paintings on the wall, a gang of girls suddenly blocked her path, apparently having been waiting behind the corner. Sumone-san stood at the very front, her annoying friends flanking her sides confidently.

"Shirai-san, you're despicable." Thus started the lecture. Kuroko sighed tiredly. She'd been waiting for this, to be honest. That didn't make it more welcome though. Sumone-san glared at her, arms firmly placed on her waist. "You think you can do whatever you want just because you were partnered up with Hitomi-san, don't you?"

"I would like to know where you get all your facts from." Kuroko said tiredly. "And yet, I sadly have to inform you those facts are not facts at all. Besides, the guidance week is over."

"Yeah, so why do you keep hanging around with Hitomi-san and Misaka-san?" Sumone-san asked.

"Yes, leave Misaka-sama alone!" One of the other girls squeaked, to agreeable nods from everyone.

Kuroko wanted to scream. _It's not like I _want _to hang around with her! _"By all means, please get her off my back." She said. "I would rather not see her stupid face closer than ten meters."

Sumone-san leaned closer in challenge. "So then why were you seen together with her yesterday?"

Apparently, this hit a nerve. Kuroko flinched, but heroically pulled herself in. "She invited me for tea!"

"Oooooh, she invited you for _tea_, I see!" Sumone-san laughed overbearingly, and the other girls giggled softly. Kuroko frowned. Sumone-san suddenly cut off her dignified chuckle and barked: "As if! Misaka-san would never invite someone like _you_ out for tea!"

Kuroko stared at her with a bored expression on her face. Then she sighed again. "My, I'm sorry you're not important enough to Misaka-san to be invited for things like that. However I do think you should direct your query at her rather than bark at me."

Sumone-san reddened considerably, and her squeaking friends glared fiercely at Kuroko as well.

"Also, please remember that I am a member of Judgment. If you fail to follow school rules or go outside your boundaries in any way, it will have consequences." Kuroko informed them with a slight smile on her lips. Sumone-san bristled even more, hands curled into fists. However there was nothing she could do in this situation; even if she were to challenge Kuroko to a duel, there was no doubt who would win. Kuroko was one of 47 level fours in Tokiwadai; Sumone Nelly was not.

"You bitch!" Her roommate exclaimed at last, and then turned around and strode off; her friends glaring one last time at Kuroko before following like sheep to the shepherd.

XXX

Of course, the day had taken its tolls, and Kuroko's mood had steadily been growing worse. The rumors being the main reason, but Sumone-san had done her part in making her day so dark. It didn't help matters that a couple of third-years showed up outside the school gates and warned her about trying to 'bring Misaka-san to her side' (as if she'd want that). They didn't say anything else before they left, and Kuroko guessed they were part of one of the factions in school and that those rumors had even reached them. In any case, as she sat in the Judgment office later that afternoon, her dark aura leaked into the entire room.

Konori-senpai was quite used to the pigtailed girls' sudden mood swings, but Kazari felt very uncomfortable having that steaming presence as if from some underground monster radiating against her back. She sat hunched over her computer, trying to make sense of the tens of emails that had popped into their inbox during the day, and simultaneously trying to forget the episode with the girls outside the bathroom earlier.

"Oh." The sudden intrusion into the otherwise deafening silence came from Konori-senpai. Kazari looked up in surprise, nearly expecting the place to come down any minute. "176th branch reports that they've received another robbery case…"

"Oh…" Kazari didn't know what else to say. She remembered the words coming from the girls at school, and the shame burned in her abdomen. "A-ah," she started, "Are we perhaps – able to do something more…?"

Konori-senpai sighed deeply. "I wish I could give you a proper answer. However we're standing without a single clue in this case. Not to mention we have enough to do already."

"Oh…" Kazari faltered; she couldn't very well argue.

As if to remind them of just how much work they'd had recently, Nebi the cat purred loudly as he stretched comfortably at his spot behind the fan of Konori-senpai's laptop. Still no-one had called to claim ownership of the pet, and it seemed like the Judgment members had given up for now and put the whole thing on hold.

"It seems like it's the same kind of robbery as usual. Middle school girl, her purse gone, nobody saw the culprit." Konori-senpai sighed, looking at her computer screen again. Then she looked over at Kuroko, who had not even bothered to glance over, engrossed in her own computer screen, steam practically erupting from her body while she tapped her keyboard furiously.

It was all a stand-still now; thanks to 176th branch finally helping them out a bit yesterday, there were no more suspects to check out – every single one had an alibi. They had even checked those that they figured were completely out of the picture in the first place. It didn't help that there was no-one who could see the criminal; even if one of the members of 176th branch had an ability that could have helped them, it didn't work on surveillance tapes. This dead-end situation was only adding to the frustration of the young Judgment member, and now it seemed like she wished it'd all magically go away if she ignored it long enough.

"Shirai." Konori-senpai's voice broke into the silence yet again. Kuroko didn't look up, gave no indication that she had heard it at all. Kazari glanced from one to the other, wondering whether she should say something, but she wasn't able to come up with anything fitting for the occasion.

Konori glared at her junior squarely. "Do you want the details of their report?"

"Just mail it to Anti-Skill." Kuroko finally answered, in a huffed mutter. Her eyes didn't stray from her laptop for even a second. "It's their jurisdiction anyway; we are just provided the opportunity to help out if we have the time." Though rather than help, it seemed like they were doing the entire investigation on their own. Last night she'd been calling suspects almost until curfew before finally leaving, not wanting another deduction point from that Old Gooseberry.

"And you don't have the time?" Konori-senpai asked critically.

"Like you said, there are a hundred other things to be done! Surely 176th branch can do some investigation in our stead!" She barked.

Konori-senpai gazed at her critically, so much so Kuroko could feel her stare burning into her skin. Still she didn't turn around. "It's not that I blame you for wanting to throw this case in the face of Anti-Skill, but you aren't just running away from this because you haven't been able to solve it, are you?"

Kuroko choked, tensing up, and her fingers stilled over the keyboard. "I – I am not! Of course not!"

"Then how about trying to show some interest over there." Konori-senpai sighed. "One of these robberies might suddenly give us a huge hint. What are you doing over there that's more important than finding this criminal anyway?"

Kuroko gritted her teeth, staring at her computer screen without seeing it. Her hands curled into fists, and her shoulders started shaking.

Kazari gazed at the scene uncomfortably, feeling like she shouldn't be in here right now, and yet leaving without disturbing them would be impossible, since the door was on the other side of the room. So she sat there as quietly as possible instead.

"I – I… there's…" Kuroko couldn't find any words to describe what she was feeling; in fact, she didn't really understand what she was feeling at all. Ever since she learned of those rumors at school and had the confrontation with the other girls, her mind had been boggled up; she lost concentration, and found herself angrily picturing both Asanuma Reiko and Sumone-san in her mind in all kinds of situations. As if that wasn't bad enough, there was another face that appeared more often than necessary; she tried to forcibly think about anything else when it happened, but Misaka-san's smiling face kept bugging her to shreds. She sat still, trembling all over, feeling as if she was on the verge of crying.

_Ping!_ The sound erupted from the speakers on Kazari's computer; she jumped at the sudden disturbance, and then turned around in a hurry. "S-sorry!" She wailed.

Kuroko barely noticed, time and place completely forgotten in her depressed state.

"Ah, another robbery!" Kazari announced, quickly scanning through the email. "This time it's 173rd branch that's reporting. It happened about 30 minutes ago. Could it be the culprit is on the move right now?"

"Where was it?" Konori asked, turning back to her own computer.

"Near Fifth Street, right where the blocks meet at the corner of Tenth Square."

"Then it could fit with the time and place of this robbery…"

Suddenly their office phone rang. Kuroko slowly turned her head, gazing at the offending object calling for attention, while Konori-senpai and Uiharu continued to discuss the matter in the background.

Reluctantly, though she'd rather not talk to anyone right now, she picked up the phone and answered it. "Yes?" Her voice was toneless.

"Um – this is Akimoto Tono of 176th branch!" The voice in the other end announced. "I'm calling to request some assistance; the invisible robber guy just robbed another girl and I'm currently chasing the culprit – the route seems to be close to 177th branch headquarters, he's pushing folks out of his way and I can see the handbags moving through the crowd ahead!"

Kuroko listened to the guy's words and his heaving breath silently. She gazed unseeingly at her computer screen, pursed her lips tightly, and heard the voices of Konori-senpai and Uiharu as they shared their theories behind her.

"Hello?" The guy said, heaving into the phone while running. "Are you there? Who am I speaking to anyway?"

_I will not let those things ruin my work here! _Kuroko settled her mind. She suddenly stood up and announced loudly: "I am Shirai Kuroko of the Judgment!" Her two coworkers looked at her in surprise. "I will head out and assist in the capture of the criminal!"

Konori-senpai smiled, and Kazari felt her chest lighten.

"O-kay," Akimoto-san said, "then please hurry, I'm nearing the – what the _fuck_?"

_BOOOOM_, there was a distant rumble from the outside – suddenly the phone was cut off, and the lights in the ceiling went dark. The beeping sound of the emergency battery for the server filled the room; their laptops were still on due to their battery, but there was no life in the chargers.

"A power failure?" Konori-senpai asked, looking around the room.

"What was that _sound_?" Kazari said, wide-eyed.

Kuroko lowered the phone in her hand, and turned to the window. "That was…"

* * *

Note:

The first part of this chapter might have been better placed in the previous chapter. Truth is, I added it just the other day. (In other words, me saying this story is already finished is one big lie. I keep adding things and making changes all the time.)

What's up with the girl gangs? Girls are horrible! *is smacked over the head by every character in the story*


	12. Chapter 12: Beam of Light

**Chapter 12: Beam of Light**

There was chaos at the plaza just a block down from Judgment 177th branch. Students were gathering in flocks, staring at something near the middle of the plaza. Some were crying and holding onto each other, others plainly curious – when Kuroko teleported up onto a vending machine to be able to see over the throng of people, her eyes grew wide.

A bus was lying on its side in the middle of the plaza, black marks and debris on the concrete showing how it had slid across the ground before hitting the fountain where it was currently residing. Water poured down the side and into the broken windows; people were screaming and yelling as they tried to climb out of the wreck, and several students were already trying to help them out. There was a hole in the upturned side of the bus, as if something had slammed into the metal with enough force to pierce it. Kuroko found herself stunned by the scene. What exactly was going on here?

Several cars were standing askew in the street beside the plaza, blocking the road in a traffic nightmare. There were terrified students everywhere, and more people on their way out of the blacked out stores. Kuroko's eyes travelled over the entire area, and her eyes at last found a rather largely built, short-haired guy in a black high school uniform. He was painfully normal and didn't exactly stand out in the chaos, but the green armband on his jacket told her what she needed to know. He was near the bus trying to keep the masses from flocking the scene, but was having little success. Like sheep or goats, the students mingled to see better, even if they were scared.

Kuroko teleported over to him. "What happened here?" She asked sternly just as she landed on the ground.

The guy turned around; "Civilians are not supposed to – oh," he noticed the armband similar to his own, and released a deep breath of relief. "Thank goodness! I was afraid I'd have to handle this all on my own!"

Kuroko recognized his voice from the phone, but did not remember having seen this guy at 176th branch before – he was probably a new member. _I wonder if he had to take make-up tests as well…_

"Give me a quick summarize of the situation." She ordered.

"H-hai!" He stiffened suddenly. "I was chasing the robber when I saw he was heading toward the street through the throng of people – well, not _him_, but the bags… though he dropped them right before… err, well, um, and then some girls were pushed into the road right in front of the bus over there – I thought for sure they'd be hit, but then there was this amazing beam of light –" he gestured, as if trying to illustrate the scene with his hands, "and it tore through the air and smashed right into the bus, knocking it off the road and into the fountain. I dunno who or what did that, but it was amazing!"

Kuroko frowned; _a beam of light?_

Sirens broke through the noise of scared and excited students; two Anti-Skill cars and two ambulances were making their way through the throng of people, and the officers that jumped out of the vans immediately got to work on clearing the area of civilians.

"Shirai-san!" A huffing voice called her name through the noise – a second later, Uiharu stood before her, leaning her hands on her knees and heaving for breath. She seemed to have run all the way over from headquarters. Konori-senpai was right behind her, her gleaming eyes already taking in the situation. "What happened?" Kazari asked, after catching her breath.

Konori-senpai started ordering them around before she could answer. "Uiharu, go help Anti-Skill clear the area." Kazari quickly saluted like a soldier. "Shirai, get to work on rescuing those inside that bus." She pointed at the bus with a determined motion.

"Hai!"

"You there -!" Konori's pointing finger landed on the guy from 176th branch; he gulped. Konori frowned. "…please don't get in our way."

"W-what?"

Kuroko mobilized the students already at the scene to have them help her evacuate the bus – several of them were ability users, and one of them had the ability to sense any living being within a radius of five meters. With his guidance, Kuroko was able to teleport directly to the people still inside the bus and get them out, while a girl with the ability of aquakinesis tried to keep the fountain water from flooding the panicking children inside.

Half an hour later, all of the passengers had been brought outside and was being treated; none were seriously hurt, but some of them were brought to the hospital for a more thorough check. The beam of light had hit the bus at the point where the baggage was usually stored, so those that had wounds had received them from the shattering glass or from falling over, not from the beam itself.

Standing on top of the bus, dripping wet from the water still pouring out of the fountain, Kuroko could trace the black marks on the ground to the point where the bus had first hit it; she guessed the vehicle had been out in the street just a few meters ahead of that point. _What exactly happened here?_ Was it a planned move from the purse robber? Did he have an accomplice?

Somehow she thought not. Him pushing the girls into the street was probably an act to create a situation where he could get away from his pursuers. In any case, the bus should have stopped on its own due to the automatic anti-crash system installed in all vehicles; if it sensed an obstacle within a dangerous range, the brakes would automatically step in, and the vehicle would stop almost instantly.

However, someone obviously didn't feel like trusting the safety system and opted for blasting the bus away instead. It wasn't hard to guess where the beam had come from; standing like this, she could easily see the crater in the ground that travelled like a straight line across the street, right into the middle of the traffic chaos with cars standing askew on either side, and onto the sidewalk on the other side_. _She looked at the spot where it ended, and frowned.

"Shirai-san!" She looked down on the ground below the bus. Uiharu stood there smiling up at her fellow Judgment member, a big towel in her hands.

XXX

They moved to the makeshift camp Anti-Skill had put up by one of their vans, and Kuroko shared her thoughts with Uiharu while drying herself off as best as she could.

"You really think it was a student who knocked over the bus?" Kazari asked, amazed. She'd heard some of the witness accounts that Konori-senpai had started collecting, and according to them, it had seemed like a beam of light had hit the bus with a deafening sound accompanying it.

"The witnesses say they got that feeling of static electricity, right?" Kuroko asked, drying her arms after pulling off her wet shirt. "Not to mention the power outage all over the area." She wiped her face, and looked thoughtfully into the towel for a second. "Considering those things, don't you think it could be from an electric ability?"

Normally, no ability that could overturn a bus with a beam of light would be able to at the same time blackout a whole area. However, there was one big hint. Just beside the street along the line where the beam of light had obviously travelled, there was a streetlight. A streetlight with a shattered lamp. _I don't want to believe it, but if that's how it happened…_ Electricity travelling along the power lines from the street light to the transformer, which would overload, making the circuits kick in and cut off the power – it sounded unlikely, but a beam of light that could knock over a whole bus was way more ridiculous anyhow.

"Well, I can't imagine what it would be if not a student." Kazari said thoughtfully. Then her eyes suddenly sparkled. "But in that case, they'd have to be _really_ powerful! Aaah~" Her hands clasped in front of her chest as she stared dreamily into the air.

Kuroko pursed her lips and looked at the bus some twenty meters away. It was vacant now, all the passengers having been taken care of, and Anti-Skill having already done their work at registering evidences. The area was sealed off by Anti-Skill tape. The hole in the bus was glaring at the sky, the area around it deformed and crushed. It looked as if something had been slammed into the side with excruciating force.

Indeed, the scene alone witnessed of an enormous amount of power. To be able to react fast enough as to save those girls, to have enough strength to knock over the bus and send it screeching along the ground for more than ten meters, yet still mustering the control as to not wreck the whole vehicle and not even hurt a single passenger…

"Indeed, whoever did this…"

"You think it was a level five? Ah, if it's electricity – it's got to be Tokiwadai's Railgun!" Kazari said eagerly, her eyes glittering again. "Aaah, Tokiwadaiiii~" She was far off again.

Kuroko huffed. Yet her gut clenched at the same time. There really was no doubt, was it?

XXX

Writing reports and handling the witness accounts was the only thing Judgment had to do in this case, but it was still work, and together with several branches they worked intently all afternoon and evening to get done in time. Some students claimed they had seen a girl fire that beam – others were 100% sure it had appeared from nowhere at all (like a shift in the atmosphere? Kuroko snorted). The girls that had been pushed into the street were too wound up to give a proper witness account yet, and the surveillance tapes would be checked by Anti-Skill. Kuroko wanted to tear something apart at their "restricted information" answers whenever she asked something about the investigation. The invisible robber was long gone, of course, and that irked her even more.

"How are we supposed to help if they won't tell us anything!" She barked. Sadly, none of her coworkers had an answer. Not even Mazuka-san, their official contact in Anti-Skill, was of any help; she excused herself and said she knew nothing but what stood in their database, and the case was merely labeled 'restricted'.

"I don't have the proper rights to even look at it." She apologized over the phone. "It seems like someone higher up in the system is handling this one."

XXX

Five minutes before curfew, Kuroko dragged her feet into the dorm, wondering if she'd be punished by the dorm mistress if she was too slow in entering her room. Why did it have to be on the third floor? And why was she forbidden from teleporting up the stairs? She sighed deeply at her misery. As if Anti-Skill wasn't infuriating enough, she had to deal with petty things like dorm rules as well.

Still, it was starting to itch somewhere in her mind, the way Anti-Skill handled the entire case. Using satellites with advanced surveillance equipment and AIM field signature searches they should be able to find the guy from comparing his data to the database. But it seemed like nothing happened over at Anti-Skill HQ. At least they had the handbags he had dropped; hopefully they would be able to find some fingerprints, if nothing else. To be honest, Kuroko wanted nothing more than to dash out there and track down the culprit and apprehend him – but even if she did do something silly like that, she had no idea where to start looking. She didn't know what Anti-Skill knew; perhaps they were actually close to tracking him down already.

She was almost at the top of the staircase to the second floor, fuming to herself, when she heard an agitated voice from down the hall above her: "I _need_ to see Misaka-sama; I swear it's _really_ important!" That shrill, annoying voice was recognizable from anywhere; Sumone-san.

A quiet voice answered her stressed roommate; she was unable to make out the words.

"But it's _really_ important!" Sumone-san cried. "Please, let me in!"

Seems like her roommate was trying to get into Misaka-san's room. Why the heck? She really didn't want to care, but she found herself vaguely curious anyway. Since the rooms were equipped with electric locks only the occupants' key cards could open, the only way for others to get inside would be by being let in by those living there (this did not apply to Kuroko of course, so the locks were quite useless in that sense). And why would you want to enter a room without those living there knowing? Of course, if someone didn't want to let you into their room, they didn't have to. This was probably the reason why Sumone-san was yelling at whoever had opened the door.

Advancing up the staircase, Kuroko stopped at the top just before the corner and peeked around it. Some way down the corridor was Sumone-san; she was facing a small, fragile girl in a door opening barely wide enough to make out her face. The girl seemed quite disturbed, her gaze darting from side to side instead of looking at the red face of Kuroko's roommate.

"I'm sorry, but Misaka-san hasn't come back yet…" She could make out her voice now; it was low and puny, like its owner had never once spoken up for herself in her entire life.

"But she's been out for _five_ hours!" Sumone-san cried. "And it's curfew time; there's no way Misaka-sama would break curfew!"

"Tsk." Kuroko could very well imagine that arrogant second-year breaking curfew without a sweat. She'd probably deliver the whole _"I'm way too important to care about stupid things like that!" _attitude. Still, why was Sumone-san so desperate to see their upperclassman?

"I'm sorry…" the small second-year said again, seemingly shrinking away from Sumone-san's fury. "I don't know where she is, but she usually comes back before the dorm mistress makes her rounds…"

"That's ridiculous!" Sumone-san spat. "You're hiding her in there, aren't you? Just because you're Misaka-sama's roommate doesn't mean you get to keep her all to yourself – let me see her right now!" She barged forward, gripping the door by its frame and tried to force it inwards – the other girl whined in surprise and tried to stand her ground with all her might.

"No, I'm speaking the truth!"

"Yeah, right; what did you do, drug her or something?"

Kuroko watched the escalating fight when she suddenly heard someone ascending the stairs behind her. Turning around, she met the surprised gaze of Misaka-san, who seemed to have just returned to the dorm from whatever outing she'd been at. _Speaking of the devil... _waltzing in here so carefree at this time; surely there were just seconds left before the clock hit 9PM.

"What are you doing lurking behind the corner like that?" Misaka-san asked skeptically.

Kuroko opened her mouth, but found her words stuck in her throat. It seemed like there was a question on her own tongue. But she was certain the one who had knocked over that bus was this troublemaker, so why the need to ask? Did she suspect her to have done it as an accomplice? Somehow, she could not imagine Misaka-san doing something like that.

She was saved the need to try and make something out of the mess in her mind however, when: "Iiee, please stop!" The frail girl cried from the room. Sumone-san was yelling: "Let me in, you jerk!"

Surprised, Misaka-san stepped into the hallway and looked at the scene – and then something changed in the second-years' eyes. A kind of tired resolve settled in her expression, a small sigh escaping her lips, as her gaze just barely narrowed on the girls fighting for their lives about whether the door should be open or closed.

Kuroko's heart skipped a beat. All thoughts of what to say evaporated; her whole attention swallowed by the sudden change in the level five. Misaka-san huffed: "Seriously…" and then walked down the corridor towards the struggling girls. Kuroko gazed after her, almost breathless.

"What's going on here?" Mikoto asked, instantly breaking up the fight as they both looked at her; for some reason, Misaka-san's roommate seemed both relieved and wary at once.

"Misaka-sama!" Sumone-san cried in relief. "I was so worried!" She was about to throw herself onto the upperclassman – but stopped abruptly when seeing the expression on the other's face.

"It's kind of suspicious how you're trying to force your way into our room like that." Mikoto said, hands on her hips. "What are you up to?" She didn't sound angry, exactly; more like a tired exasperation filling her voice. Kuroko could not see her face, but she saw her back, and somehow, the stance spoke of superiority. Sumone-san gaped at Misaka-san with a horrified face, and the frail second-year shrunk even further into the doorway, until finally disappearing into the room and closing the door.

"Wha – wha –" Sumone-san stuttered, obviously thrown off. "I was – I was just worried!" She clasped her hands together. "We were planning to go shopping and, you weren't here for dinner, and you were gone for so long, and there was an accident downtown – I thought something might have happened!"

Mikoto huffed. "By 'we' I guess you mean you and your friends; I don't remember planning anything with you. And in what reality would the concern whether something happened to me warrant a raid on my room?"

"Wha – I thought – that roommate of yours might have -!" Sumone-san was slightly desperate now. There was no way to know whether her trying to force herself into the room was indeed because of honest worry for their upperclassman, but whatever the plan was, it seemed to have been interrupted.

Mikoto stared at her solemnly, and then sighed tiredly. "Honestly, it's because of people like you Koshi-san is permanently nervous." Kuroko guessed that was her roommate. The girl had seemed pretty nervous even from this distance. "In any case, the guidance week is over," Mikoto continued, "I don't have to keep you company all the time anymore."

Sumone-san looked positively stricken. Kuroko should be grinning, but found herself far too consumed by the sight of this scene to revel. Her heart was pounding in her chest; she'd never dreamt she'd see Misaka-san finally gave her vile roommate the lecture she deserved.

"But I –" Sumone-san started, though her voice died down.

Misaka-san sighed again, and said: "I have no energy for this right now. Just stop bothering people and go back to your own room."

Sumone-san looked as if on the verge of tearing up. Her face was red and her eyes glossy, and she let out a small hiccup. Kuroko was still stunned; it was unreal, yet alluring in a way, how Misaka-san showed the boot-licking girl how she didn't care for her attention. And yet she wasn't being rude or cruel. It was like watching an adult patiently explaining a child the common sense of the world in a strict, yet kind matter.

She could have stood there and watched this for hours. However, fate didn't want that. Suddenly, her roommate was looking right at her; most likely it was a coincidence. Sumone-san's face paled with surprise, and Kuroko stiffened, the rosy illusion tore apart in an instant.

"I see…" Sumone-san said calmly, drying her tears with the sleeve of her jacket. She hiccupped, and then her face twisted in a sneer. "I see! Shirai-san, this is all your doing!"

"Eh?" Mikoto turned to look back at the corner.

"You set Misaka-sama up to this, didn't you!" Sumone-san cried. Kuroko pressed her back to the wall, tensing up in apprehension. _What's with this logic?_

"Wait – set up what?" Mikoto asked, bewildered, but Sumone-san wasn't listening; she sprang forward like a charging tiger.

"You will regret it this time, Shirai!"

"Geh!" Kuroko jolted when her roommate suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed her by her shoulder, a cold sensation spreading from her hand; she teleported to a spot further down the hall, in front of Misaka-san, who seemed quite bewildered.

"What are you –" the second-year started, but none of the first-years paid her any attention, staring at each other with pure vile roaring in their eyes.

"You always tried to get between me and Misaka-sama!" Sumone-san yelled. "Even though I was her assigned partner, you were jealous!" White smoke floated in the air around her hand. It was in fact frost smoke; Sumone-san had the ability to lower the temperature of anything she touched to the freezing point of water. It was a somewhat weak level three ability, but it still hurt if she were to touch any body parts.

Kuroko didn't particularly fear for her safety though. If Sumone-san thought she could beat her, she would have challenged her already. "I don't know where your fantasies originate from, but for the past week you've been observed hanging from this turkey's arm more than once." She said.

"_Turkey_?" Mikoto spluttered, but was yet again ignored.

"How dare you call Misaka-sama by such horrible names!" Sumone-san shouted. "She's the pride of our school; I will not let her name be smeared by the means of a perverted stalker like you!"

"I would love to know where you get your fixed ideas from." Kuroko said, smirking.

"I've seen the way you look at her! Your expression just screams of adore!"

"_WHAT?_" Kuroko's voice shot through the roof. "Why would I even look at such an immature–"

"I'll never let you tarnish Misaka-sama's pure maiden heart! She's never even kissed anyone, and I'll make sure she's untouched until her marriage!" Sumone-san was yelling equally as loud, and was just as red-faced as her roommate.

"That won't be hard, no-one would even _dream_ of kissing this violent ogre!" Kuroko flung her arm out in gesture. At this moment she noticed the shaking form of Misaka-san, her red face and gritted teeth, and the blue sparks emitting from her bangs.

"Eh…" A sweat-drop travelled down Kuroko's temple.

"You two…" Mikoto forced out, her voice trembling in rage, "you're both… really… _ANNOYING!_" _CRACCKLE_, electricity roared from the electromaster like a wild storm, striking the ceiling and the walls with fierce lashes; one of the lamps in the ceiling exploded, and Sumone-san whined and put her hands on her head. Kuroko teleported out of danger and gritted her teeth. _Not good!_

There was a sudden thunder of footsteps from below; they all stiffened, even Misaka-san, snapping back to reality from her rage-induced stupor.

Sumone-san paled. "Oh no, the dorm –"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" For those that had not yet realized something was going on, this was a definite awakener. Almost instantly, every door along the corridor banged open, and curious heads popped out to look.

The three girls turned sweaty faces toward the woman with the narrow glasses.

"I-I am very sorry, Dorm Mistress-sama, it is all a misunderstanding…" Kuroko stuttered, smiling stupidly.

The dorm mistress did not smile back. "It is past curfew, yet you three are standing out here in the corridor making a ruckus, even throwing your abilities about!" Her sharp glare turned on Misaka-san, who grinned stupidly.

The dorm mistress' eyes glinted dangerously. With a fierce snap, she pointed at each of them in turn. "Detention! Detention! Detention! You _all_ have detention!"

"Wha –" Sumone-san cried. "Dorm mistress, please…" but the woman merely put her hands on her waist and declared: "And now it's bed time for everyone! If I find as much as a _foot_ outside a door after this, I'll chop it off!"

All the doors instantly slammed shut.

XXX

The first-years went to their room on autopilot. They didn't look at each other, much less argue; it seemed the shock had been too much for them to even open their mouth. Sumone-san was pale and silent; Kuroko's head was steaming and churning like the engine of a train. They changed without a word and went to bed silently.

Lying in her bed, Kuroko stared at the dark ceiling (which was not really dark since their curtains were open as usual), thinking. What exactly had happened back there?

"_I've seen the way you look at her!"_ She frowned. She knew Sumone-san had the wrong impression, but it still… just in case her roommate _didn't _imagine it… _How do I look at her?_ She clenched her eyes shut and pulled the cover over her head. _How do I look at that gloating, boorish – _Once again, that honest smile of Misaka-san entered her mind, and she shook her head violently.

XXX

01:45 am.

Kuroko stared at her laptop with determined conviction in her reddish eyes. She could not sleep. Her mind was working on overdrive. She should be getting her rest, but her thoughts would not let her. She was a woman of certainty; she never liked being kept in the dark about anything. Therefore, this action came naturally. After lying awake in her bed for several hours, she finally reached this conclusion.

Firmly, she typed the address into the browser on her screen. She listened for a moment for sounds from the other bed in the room; Sumone-san was sleeping, snoring loudly like always. Kuroko would prefer if she didn't see her checking out these kinds of things, so she'd hid under her quilt, with the computer in her lap.

_I just need to get this doubtful feeling out of the system. Sumone-san is just trying to put me off anyway; I won't let her succeed. With this, I can _prove _she's wrong!_

She wasn't trying to do some late-night research on the invisible robber case; neither was it a hopeless attempt at finishing a school project that should be delivered the next day. This was a project of entirely different concerns. She clicked a few buttons on the web page, and a test popped up on the screen in front of her. She gazed at the first few questions. _These are designed for a girl-boy relationship. Well, no matter, I'll just pretend… _It was, in fact, one of Academy City's most famous internet sites that almost every student visited at least once a day (Kuroko had learned about it from Uiharu when she caught the girl surfing the net instead of writing reports this afternoon). Amongst tips and tricks for mastering your ability, online study help and a general forum, it also contained things like what Kuroko was currently looking at: The _Relationship Status – Are You In Love?_ test. It might not be appropriate for her situation, but if Sumone-san _thought_ she was trying to gain Misaka-san's attention because of this, she would gladly finish the test only to prove to her that she was definitively _wrong._

Her face was steadily heating up as she checked off the answers one by one. There were many questions; it was probably designed to be as accurate as possible. _"Are you acting rude without wanting to when he's around?" I guess that's happened a few times, usually it's her fault though… "Does your face redden by the mere thought of him?"… _She blushed, her heart pounding in her chest. _Ack, fine, yes! _

Her heart was beating faster and faster for each new question that popped up. _"On a scale from 1 to 10, how good does he smell?" Damn it, I haven't smelled her, how would I know… does she even wear perfume? I'll just go with 7… Next question… "His smile is…" _Her face heated up again, remembering the smile from their tea-outing.

Somewhere along the way it stopped being about proving Sumone-san wrong, and started becoming a thrilling quest. Finally she hit the "show results" button, and her breath was stuck in her throat. The page loaded for a small second.

Then the result showed up.

"Guh – !" She clamped a hand over her own mouth to keep from shouting out. Staring at the screen in horror, and yet at the same time her gut was doing flips in excitement. _This is -!_

* * *

Note:

I don't even know what to say about this chapter… I kind of like it? (Now I dare you to say you don't… hahaaa xD )

I just want to say how humble I become at some of the reviews I'm getting – seriously, it's amazing to read how you guys appreciate this story. I hope I can keep the quality all the way through to the end! Please tell me if I fail… though I might die inside if that's the case ;_; And please don't have any brain explosions before I can post the next chapter; it's so messy to clean up =S =S

**Next time:** Sumone Nelly becomes the main character and it turns out she's actually much more powerful than a normal level three only her powers can't be measured properly and thus Academy City basically sucks and she fights a group with twenty people with one finger and a toe and Mikoto is very amazed since she was about to lose to a bunch of level two's even though she's beaten tougher things before and she realizes Sumone is much more powerful than she is, and then a mysterious person from Sumone's past shows up and it turns out they were both part of an experiment and actually they're both level six and then SPARKLY THINGS WITH LAZOR BEAMZ is attacking but before that Uiharu and Saten show up and they eat ice cream and flips skirts everywhere and Sumone has to save Mikoto and Kuroko when they try to fight and they fail and are about to die and then they realize Sumone is divine and stuff and that's really cool and that's very neat and the end. R&R plzzzz


	13. Chapter 13: Normality Disrupted

**Chapter 13: Normality Disrupted**

Kuroko headed down to breakfast before Sumone-san the next day. For once she'd stolen the bathroom before her stubborn roommate (by teleporting inside right in front of her face; Sumone-san had been furious of course, but that was the point). She had barely slept the entire night, desperately trying out different online tests only to have the same answer slapped in her face every time. In the end, she concluded she was still confused by that lover's show she had witnessed in the back alley; furthermore, the tests were all based on girl-boy relationships and would hardly be appropriate for her situation, and in the first place, they were _online tests_! Internet sites could never properly judge real life situations.

With a very aloof look on her face, the first-year descended the grand staircase of their dorm and marched across the lobby towards the dining hall. She halfway expected the two second-years to be waiting outside as usual and mentally prepared herself (by building a huge barricade around the part of her brain that contained any information about a certain level five), but her efforts turned out to be unnecessary. Like yesterday, only the smiling face of Hitomi-san greeted her. She wasn't really surprised, though for some reason she felt a bit downhearted. She smacked her hands to her cheeks fiercely. _Enough of that!_ _I don't even _want _to eat breakfast with her! _

"Are you trying to wake up still?" Hitomi-san asked humorously.

Kuroko looked at her, still with her hands on her cheeks, but a dead serious expression on her face. "You don't have to meet me every morning anymore, you know." She said. "The guidance week is over."

Hitomi-san smiled brightly. "I'm sorry, but I enjoy eating breakfast with you, Shirai-san. I'd like to keep doing it as long as I can."

Kuroko followed the second-year into the dining room. "As long as you can?"

"Hai." Hitomi-san smiled gently. "If I am elected as the student council president this week, I might be required to switch dorms."

"Oh." Kuroko was surprised to realize she felt somewhat disheartened at this. She'd grown into enjoying breakfast time with the cheerful blonde.

"It seems Misaka-san and Sumone-san won't be joining us today either." Hitomi-san continued, leading the way to a free table for two. "How about we sit here today?" The table was right beside the window, enabling them to see out onto the street. While Kuroko didn't like the idea of anyone being able to see right in at her food, she didn't find it in herself to object either.

"You've spoken with… her?" She'd almost said 'them', but there really was no doubt who she could have talked to, if anyone.

Hitomi-san's smile didn't waver while they put down their schoolbags beside the chairs. "Well… I greeted Misaka-san earlier, but she just smiled and said she had to hurry…"

No surprise there. Having gotten a night's – well at least a few hours – sleep between now and what happened last night, Kuroko was able to see just how far they'd pushed the upperclassman back there. For her to lose it like that in the middle of the corridor, something must have really rubbed her the wrong way.

_I wonder if she really does hate me now…_ she felt a bit unsettled as she followed Hitomi-san towards the buffet tables. Then she frowned. _Well, it doesn't matter, does it? This is what I wanted! Peace and quiet! _She put up a determined face that really seemed more like a scowl.

When they neared the tables sporting an abundance of food as usual, a few girls looked at Kuroko and then proceeded to hurry away, giggling all the way. Kuroko's scowl grew even deeper.

"I heard what happened last night." Hitomi-san said, smiling still. "Really, to make Misaka-san react in such a way – what did you do?" She seemed humored, for some reason.

"We did not particularly _do_ anything," Kuroko muttered, staring at the plates of food in front of her rather than the blonde girl. "I guess she just had a bad day or something…" She threw a sneaky glance around the room, but couldn't see Misaka-san in the throng of girls.

"Hm, I wonder…" Hitomi-san thoughtfully picked up an apple and put it on her plate, "I heard on the news that there was an accident yesterday – a bus was upturned by a beam of light, and apparently the power went out for a couple of hours in the entire neighborhood."

Kuroko tensed. Of course such an event would make the news – but she knew only half of it had been reported to the public. Apparently, there'd been an 'energy blast of unknown sources' that knocked over the bus, and Anti-Skill reported that 'they already had a likely suspect'. This cover-up of the truth was definitively infuriating (and unnecessary!), and resulted in that the only thing that would spread amongst the students was…

"Rumors say the bus was about to hit some girls, and the blast actually saved their lives." Hitomi-san said, confirming her suspicions. The second-year slapped an omelet onto her plate. "They also say it was a student who fired that beam of light – a Tokiwadai student, none-the-less." She chuckled softly. "If that's true, it could only have been a railgun, don't you think?"

"A railgun…" Kuroko repeated, glaring at the pear she had picked up as if it had insulted her deeply.

"You know Misaka-san's signature attack? She got her nickname from that – the Railgun." Hitomi-san stretched out a hand and flicked her thumb forward, as if flicking something away.

"Well yes, I know that…" Kuroko grumbled. She'd never seen the infamous attack, though she knew of it – in fact, that was what she had thought yesterday when she heard about the 'beam of light' accompanied by the blackout. She had no idea what it looked like though.

"I've only seen it once," Hitomi-san said as they walked back to their table, "during the Tokiwadai winter show last year."

Kuroko pursed her lips. The Tokiwadai winter show was a show put on by the students of the school to attract new students and give a good impression to the parents and children that visited Academy City to observe the different schools and possibilities. Of course Tokiwadai would use the most of their famous level five and have her perform as well. She'd missed that show due to Judgment work.

"It was amazing!" Hitomi-san said, suddenly looking at the underclassman with a sparkle in her eyes. "Such power, grace, and utter calmness – as if firing a beam that could kill a hundred humans in an instant was nothing big at all. It made me truly realize what 'level five' is all about."

"I guess that's when she gained most of her fan base as well." Kuroko said dryly. Her stomach was twirling again; she tried to imagine what Hitomi-san was talking about, but found it hard. She could only imagine those electrical attacks she'd seen Misaka-san unleash up till now, but by the sound of it, the railgun was another thing entirely.

"I guess you could say that," Hitomi-san smiled, "even though the resulting power outage in school was a bit unexpected – I don't think Misaka-san had anticipated it either."

_What do you except when throwing one billion volts of electricity around without thinking?_ Kuroko thought, but her sour expression felt more and more forced.

They sat down at their table, and Hitomi-san started dividing her omelet into pieces with her chopsticks. Kuroko realized she had only picked fruit, but couldn't be bothered to go back and find anything else.

"Anyway, if it really was Misaka-san who knocked over that bus, I imagine she might have been very troubled last night." Hitomi-san continued.

"Why would she be troubled?" Kuroko huffed. "Surely she's proud of her bravado. If anyone ought to be troubled it's us Judgment, who had to clean up her mess afterwards."

Hitomi-san smiled at her begrudged tone, but her expression otherwise seemed solemn. "I guess you're right." She chuckled. "You certainly have a lot to do, Shirai-san."

"That's right, and that oaf doesn't make matters easier." Kuroko sighed.

"Well, I think Misaka-san must have acted out of reflex," Hitomi-san continued, poking at her omelet thoughtfully, "seeing those girls about to be hit by the bus, she did the only thing she could think of at the moment, and that was to blast the bus away. However, in such a situation she would not have enough time to consider the consequences of such an action."

"The consequences?" Kuroko narrowed her brow. It didn't sound like she was talking about the smashed fountain… certainly; there had been a few injured citizens, but nothing serious…

"What if anyone had been hit by that bus when it was blasted off the street?" Hitomi-san gazed at her plate with a serious expression on her face. Kuroko's eyes widened.

Picking up a piece of omelet with her chopsticks, Hitomi-san continued: "I imagine Misaka-san had no time to think at the moment it happened, but perhaps it bothered her afterwards. In the hopes of saving a few girls, she might have ended up killing several others. Thinking about it, perhaps the bus would even have stopped on its own. Maybe that is why she was so easily agitated last night?" She gave another smile and put the piece of food into her mouth.

Kuroko was stunned. She hadn't thought of that at all. Certainly it was a miracle that no-one had been standing in the path of the bus as it slid over the plaza. In fact, it seemed incredible that it was only the bus that was hit at all, with all those other vehicles on the road. Indeed, the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Her meddling nature would probably not let Misaka-san stand still and watch as helpless girls were run over by the bus – rather, she was most likely the only person at the scene who could do anything at all. And yet it could have caused more grief, in the end.

Hitomi-san suddenly gave a small chuckle. "Of course, this is all assumptions. For all we know, Misaka-san might have had everything perfectly under control. If it even was her of course; no-one knows for sure, do they?"

To Kuroko, there was absolutely no doubt who it was; the evidences were way too obvious. "Really, she ought to stop doing such odd things." She sighed. "She does nothing but create trouble."

"You say that, even though you've obviously grown so much on each other?" Hitomi-san smiled again.

Kuroko's head erupted into fire, and she hastily took a huge bite out of her apple.

"You seem to banter like good friends, and even though I might not know her that well, I can see Misaka-san enjoys your company." The upperclassman continued. She smiled jovially. "Otherwise she surely wouldn't have joined us for lunch yesterday."

Kuroko swallowed slowly, and stared at her plate with burning cheeks. Did it really seem to others like they were such good friends? Just because they had a somewhat neutral conversation over a cup of tea didn't instantly make them best friends! Perhaps Misaka-san enjoyed having groundless arguments – in that case, Hitomi-san's reasoning would seem plausible.

"Still, Tokiwadai is rather unforgiving to those that seem to try and get close to their 'idols'." Hitomi-san said solemnly. "I hope those rumors aren't troubling you too much – they will die down soon enough. Most students don't take it seriously; there are always an abundance of rumors going around, as I'm certain you'll learn to see." She picked up another piece of her omelet. "I know there's one about our teacher, for instance: They say he's actually a spy for an international cooperation looking to reveal the secrets of Academy City's espers." She smiled humorously. "Wouldn't it be interesting if it turned out to be true?"

Kuroko took another bite of her apple as if on auto-pilot, all the thoughts in her mind doing backflips like confused dolphins. She didn't really want to be reminded of those rumors. "How is the election campaign coming along?" She asked, just to bring her mind onto something else.

"Great!" Hitomi-san chirped. "According to the last survey, I have passed Asanuma-san regarding popularity. Now that is quite a feat!" Kuroko could not for the life of her understand why that Asanuma-san was so popular to begin with. "Oh, that reminds me," Hitomi-san continued; "I'm sorry, but I won't have time to join you for lunch today. I have to prepare for the debate that is to be held tomorrow."

"Oh." Kuroko seemed to remember their teacher mentioning something about that. "It's an open debate between the candidates, isn't it?" The last chance to give a good impression to the students before the election took place on Thursday. Her gut coiled all of a sudden.

"That's right!" Hitomi-san beamed. "To be honest, I'm just a tiny bit nervous!"

With the brilliant smile she was sporting, she didn't seem nervous at all. Kuroko sighed. The position of student council president was quite the heavy weight in a school like Tokiwadai. Not only was it a lot of responsibility, but it would do nicely on your attest when applying for Universities later.

"You haven't had any more troubles with her?" She asked, thinking back to the meeting outside the school gates last week, and suddenly, the feeling of Asanuma-san's finger tracing her jaw line burned on her skin. She mentally shuddered.

Hitomi-san's mouth seemed to shiver for a moment; however her smile didn't waver for a second. "Not at all!" She said.

Kuroko gazed at her for a moment, but Hitomi-san merely kept on smiling. Sighing, the Judgment member relented and took another bite of her apple (even though she didn't really feel hungry). It was probably no use to press the matter.

XXX

Hoping the rumors from yesterday were already gone would probably be a bit optimistic. This was subtlety confirmed when she opened her locker only to find a bunch of hate letters inside (all written with flourishy handwriting as if it was the calligraphy club having a competition). However, she was determined to not let it get to her anymore. She had decided to ignore it completely for as long as it took.

Even if the rumors had evolved over the night.

"Seriously, this school…" She sighed deeply, while Awatsuki-san smiled apologetically from beside her desk. "Me and Sumone-san fighting over Misaka-san, such a ridiculous…"

Of course, with that being the case, it probably wasn't Sumone-san that had spread these new rumors. On her way to the classroom this morning, Kuroko had more than once noticed a glaring glance her way, and some girls had started whispering excitedly when she passed by in the hallway. She suddenly felt like she knew how it must be for Misaka-san and Hitomi-san, though there was an obvious lack of blushes and glittering eyes in her case. Though, if she hadn't expected it to happen after what transpired last night, she might not have noticed them at all. For some reason, the high-class giggles and badly hidden looks didn't carry quite the same punch as Sumone-san's biting remarks or Misaka-san's lashing electricity. She could not even be bothered to feel annoyed at this point.

"I heard there was quite a ruckus at your dormitory." Awatsuki-san said. "Was there really a fight between you three?"

"If there really was a fight the dorm would have more damage than a single shattered light." Kuroko said tiredly.

"I guess that's true…" The brown-haired girl smiled timidly.

The thought of being in detention with those two idiots later made Kuroko's stomach twirl and toss around like a ballet dancer about to retch, though her face stayed carefully neutral. She instinctively looked for Sumone-san's stupid face in the classroom and noticed she wasn't here yet. With homeroom starting in just a few minutes, she sure was being slow. Her speckless record would be stained even more with marks of being late. _She's probably off dawdling over Misaka-san again…_ Her stomach twisted. Then again, maybe not; the second-year had been quite clear in her rejection last night.

The speaker system on the wall suddenly sparked to life; it was used by the administration and student council to announce important messages, and thus, the chatter in the classroom almost immediately died down in anticipation of what was to come.

"All students are to gather in the gymnastics hall," the principal's voice sounded, "I repeat: All students are to gather in the gymnastics hall. This means everyone; those who are currently without your homeroom teacher as well."

"Oh my." Awatsuki-san said worriedly, while the classroom erupted into excited chattering. "I wonder if something has happened?"

Kuroko had no answer to give her, but for some reason, she felt really uneasy.

XXX

They all headed for the gym; some teachers were standing in the corridors to make sure there were no strays, but they answered none of the questions the students showered them with.

Finally, when the whole student body was gathered in the hall, the principal stepped forward on the raised platform that had been used during the opening ceremony, and cleared his throat into the microphone. There was some students lined up behind him; Kuroko could see Unabara Ryoko and Fasu Niba amongst them. So it was the student council. Neither Asanuma-san nor Hitomi-san was present though.

The bearded man with the long, well-kept hair started: "Some of you may already have heard it." His voice was deep and solemn. "This morning one of our school buses had an accident in the tunnel entering our Garden of Education."

There was a huge gasp from the audience; Kuroko's eyes grew wide as well.

"There were no lives lost," the principal continued, "however several of your classmates may already be in the hospital; we are trusting that Academy City's prime medical treatment program will have them back with us in no time."

"An accident?" Someone whispered. "What happened?"

"Anti-Skill is currently investigating the accident. I ask you all to refrain from digging too much into this, as the victims might be troubled by too much prodding. Also, no students are to leave the premises without notifying your teacher. This will be executed with the utmost strictness, and there are no exceptions."

Excited whispers spilled forth from the students.

"Your homeroom teachers will give you more information regarding this matter when you get back to your classrooms. Dismissed!"

XXX

Already in the first recess, rumors were spreading amongst the students. Kuroko was lost in her own fuming contemplation, feeling less than thrilled at the fact that she was not allowed to leave school to investigate. Following the principal's order she'd asked Hiraga-sensei about it, but he strictly told her no. _Why? I'm a Judgment member! _She fumed in silence. Even though leaving the school building unnoticed would go by without a hitch, she could not make a doppelganger of herself to sit through the coming lessons, and the teachers would surely notice. Besides, Anti-Skill was already on-site, and it was a mere accident too (not like Misaka-san had blasted another bus off the street, right?); was it really worth another detention…? She gave a deep sigh.

_Honestly, I'm way too wound up about this…_

Sumone-san was the only one from their class that had been injured, though several of them had been aboard the bus that left ten minutes after the first one. According to Hiraga-sensei, she sported a broken ankle, and she was amongst those who had been hurt the most in the accident. Kuroko mustered up a tiny ounce of pity for the girl, but couldn't say she felt like joining in the crying of the gang of girls in the corner. Hiraga-sensei also asked them to move around in a group, but couldn't say why; it was the decision of the higher-ups. This was very weird of course, but Kuroko couldn't do much about it except scowl; she did not understand why she as a Judgment member hadn't been informed of this first.

Seeing how Kuroko was in this state of mind and hardly paid attention to her surroundings, it was Awatsuki-san and Wannai-san that updated her as usual.

"It seems some of the students on the bus have already come back to school," Awatsuki-san said. "They say there was a man standing in the middle of the road, and the anti-crash system tried to avoid him and hit the wall instead." If an obstacle was too close for the bus to stop, it would try to choose another direction to avoid it instead. The system knew to see the difference between living and non-living obstacles, and if possible would choose to hit the latter over the former.

"A man in the middle of the road, inside the tunnel of the Garden of Education?" Kuroko pondered, one finger on her chin as she frowned.

Under any other conditions, the first thought would be that it was a confused citizen who had somehow wandered past the gates and were stumbling around in the street.

However, this was Academy City, and the Garden of Education at that. This town within the city was like a military base in terms of security; the only entrance was littered with surveillance cameras (both the normal kind and those with infra-red sensors) and security personnel. No human could ever enter without being spotted. For someone to enter the Garden at all, they'd have to identify themselves at the gates, so unless he was actually authorized to enter the Garden, he would have been denied entrance.

"Do you think it was a student?" Wannai-san said worriedly.

"But it was a man. Could it be one of the teachers?" Awatsuki-san answered.

"The male teachers are shipped in and out of school with designated buses; there's no way they would be allowed entrance into the Garden on foot." Kuroko said. This was one of the rules of the Garden of Education; it was a town for girls. And thus, there was no way an outsider could simply walk in, unless they were able to hide themselves from both the security cameras and the on-duty personnel. But even if that was the case, they should have been spotted by an infra-red camera, which would raise the alarm when they snuck past the card scanner and have security bots spinning after them in no time. And even assuming the system for some reason failed on one point and one managed to sneak inside, why on Earth would they make a bus crash on purpose? Not only were you sure to have the entire Anti-Skill on your tail after such a move, but it was even equivalent to declaring war on Tokiwadai middle school. Anyone doing _that_ could not be right in their heads.

In short, it was impossible.

"How ridiculous," she said haughtily, "there must have been a fault in the auto-bus system. As for the man, people tend to see strange things when they panic."

XXX

"Whaaat, you have detention? Shirai-san…" Uiharu gave a deep sigh. "You should be happy Konori-senpai isn't here yet, she'd give you an earful…"

"What's with that haughty tone?" Kuroko sighed into her phone. "Besides, it's not like I choose this over Judgment work." She was on her way to the teacher's lounge; school was over, but of course, she still had a detention to sit through.

"Well, you probably did something to deserve it, so it's hard to feel pity for you." Uiharu said cheerfully. Kuroko puffed her cheeks out, feeling like she was being made fun of.

"Well, whatever," she huffed at last, "I also wanted to check something with you." Though she had blown the case away as a mere accident, something still prickled her about it.

"What, a bus crash?" Uiharu's surprised tone did not bode well to the teleporter. "I haven't heard anything about that… I'll check around with the other branches, but don't you think it's weird that it's not in our database yet?"

"There might be a hundred good reasons for it not being there yet; however branch 182 should at least have heard something, with their jurisdiction being the Garden of Education. I won't be able to answer my phone during detention, so please just send me a summary later."

"Hai, I'll do that. You just stay put and behave. We don't need you ending up with _another _detention as punishment for skipping the first."

Kuroko instantly reddened. "I had no plans of doing something like that!"

She hung up and glared ahead; _not only do I have to deal with such stupid things, but I actually managed to take a wrong turn and ended up with a detour..._ Tokiwadai was indeed easy to get lost in for newcomers, and she hadn't been paying her surroundings any attention as she walked.

Just as passed a corner, she heard hushed voices from the classroom beside her. _Probably just another couple of gossip girls staying behind to share rumors._ She huffed to herself, when one of the voices rose and quite clearly said: "Please, please listen to me!"

The voice seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Like an uncomfortable memory she'd repressed was trying to force its way back to her consciousness.

Another voice that had also risen in volume entered her ears; "I've told you, Reiko, I _won't _withdraw!" Her eyes widened; it was the voice of Hitomi-san. Curiously, feeling like she was a bandit and a criminal, she moved closer to the door and put her ear on it.

Standing like that in a suspicious way, she listened intently to the conversation within the room.

"But you heard what happened today! If you don't back down, I'm sure something even more –"

"How low of you, Asanuma Reiko, to be threatening me with the lives of our students to make me withdraw from the election campaign."

Kuroko's eyes grew even wider. That's why the voice was so familiar; Asanuma-san!

"Aika, please, I'm sorry I've treated you so badly – I'm not trying to intimidate you! I'm just concerned! You know the notes he's been sending me – he wants me to be re-elected!"

"As if I would be intimidated by you at all." Hitomi-san bit back; obviously the cheerful blonde was not so cheerful right now. "And you haven't contacted Anti-Skill or Judgment either, have you, _Asanuma-san_?"

"Well I – I tried but, Anti-Skill said they were working on it…"

"Figures."

"I swear, I'm not lying!" Asanuma-san sounded very desperate indeed; Kuroko almost wished she could see her face. Then again, why was she acting so desperate? Was this her last resort move to be re-elected as the president, since Hitomi-san's popularity had already surpassed hers? What low tactics.

"I don't think you are lying, but how can I just accept that 'if I don't withdraw our students might get hurt' as a reason? It sounds like you are threatening me!" Hitomi-san said.

"I know!" Asanuma-san cried. "But please believe me; I'm only concerned for your safety! I got a new note in my locker today; he says he wants me to be re-elected and that this was just a warning of what might come!"

"This is Unabara-san and Fasu-san's doing…"

"No, it's not them either! I-I know they've been horrible to you but, I swear it's not…"

"As long as you find it in yourself to be used by those shallow girls, I will not listen to a word you say! If you really think it's that stalker, why don't you say so to Anti-Skill?"

"But they won't listen!"

"That's ridiculous! Your words are full of contradictions and they make no sense. Stop lying to me!"

Kuroko's heart was thumping uncomfortably fast in her chest. This conversation didn't sound like the normal bickering between two rivals. In fact, she had never heard anything quite like it before.

There was silence for a few seconds; she could just imagine what was going on on the other side of the door. Obviously they didn't know she was here; most likely they'd waited for most of the other students to go home, and chose a location where nobody would normally stumble across them. This part of the school wasn't used after hours; it was just Kuroko's wrong turn that had made her come this way at all.

She picked up a new sound; it was like quiet sobbing. Was one of them crying?

"But he might…" Asanuma-san's thick voice started, but it died down into a sob.

"I honestly don't know what to believe anymore." Hitomi-san said, her voice much calmer now. "One minute you claim you love me, the next you're spitting insults in my face. Even if we cannot let our relationship be known on campus, I still don't see the necessity of ridiculing each other in public."

"But it's…"

"Ssh," Hitomi-san's whispering voice said. "I don't want this to ruin for the two of us. But you have to realize I can't stand to see you being used by that hag any longer. That's why I'm running for student council president in the first place."

"Aika -!"

"Now, I'm supposed to be cleaning my classroom; why don't you dry up your tears and go back to your _friends_ as well."

Footsteps neared the classroom door; Kuroko hurriedly teleported down the corridor and into the next; there she paused, breathing heavily, her face white with horror. _What… was that?_

* * *

Note:

So… I suddenly had this bright idea that I wanted to fill in some more at this part of the story and then the chapter was suddenly horribly long so I split it up and then had to reorganize the next three chapters cause it wasn't 230% perfect and I tried to make a better mess out of the chaos and ended up with complete chaos instead which I sincerely hope you won't notice at all but now you might since I told you about it.

In other words, please enjoy.

**Next time: **Kuroko wakes up only to realize everything so far was a dream and she's actually not even started Tokiwadai yet. So we get to read the entire story one more time (because incidentally, she's clairvoyant).

(PS: the next few chapters needs work! So please don't be upset if the next isn't out by next Monday… honestly, the only reason I can post so quickly is because the story is already done… um. Yeah. *sweatdrops*)


	14. Chapter 14: Hyouchan

**Chapter 14: Hyou-chan**

Kazari gave a relieved sigh and sat back into her chair. She had just finished tracing every clue she could about the accident Shirai-san had mentioned earlier, and sent a short summary to the other girl's cell phone. It wasn't much; branch 182 did not know any more than that there had been an accident, and Anti-Skill merely reported that the case was being handled by them. Considering there were no serious injuries or property damage, it seemed like they decided to spare Judgment the work of getting involved.

"Well, that's that; I guess even Shirai-san gets worried sometimes though…" She smiled, feeling content with the job she'd done, and figured she deserved a break. Konori-senpai had briefly visited the office earlier only to tell her she would be going on patrol, and so, the entire office was Kazari's for enjoyment. _Perhaps I'll make a cup of tea and eat those biscuits I saw in the cupboard yesterday~_

The phone rang. Kazari hummed happily as she rolled over to the nagging device and picked it up.

"Hai, Judgment 177th branch," she said cheerfully.

"…" It sounded like someone was breathing unsteadily in the other end of the phone. Kazari's cheerfulness vaporized immediately, recognizing something was not right.

"Who is it? Do you need help?" She asked urgently.

There was a small sob; no doubt it was the voice of a small child. A child in danger? Her eyes widened, and she felt nervous all of a sudden. _What do I do? Do I call Anti-Skill? Should I head out and help them? But I can't leave the office empty! _Her mind was spinning wildly.

Nebi the cat trudged over and mewed suddenly, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Hyou-chan!" The voice suddenly squealed from the other end of the phone, and then there was a gasp, and the person hung up. Kazari was left standing with the dial tone beeping into her ear, surprised at the sudden reaction.

"Hyou-chan?" She looked at the cat, who perked and looked up at her. "Did they mean you?" Could it be Nebi's owner had finally decided to contact them? Kazari petted the cat thoughtfully, and it purred, leaning into her hand. But why so shy? And why did they hang up?

"Maybe it was just a wrong call after all…" She smiled, and the cat mewed. Then suddenly, its ears shot up, and Kazari had barely turned around before the door to the office opened, and a grinning Ruiko entered the room.

"Hey Uiharu, are you going on patrol soon?" She asked, not even looking to see if anyone else was in the room first.

"Saten-san!" Kazari exclaimed, and then Nebi jumped off the table, and in a dash, exited the door between Ruiko's feet. The longhaired girl turned and looked after the animal with a surprised expression – "What was that?"

"Nebi!" Kazari shouted, and ran past Ruiko too, heading after the cat.

"Hey – Uiharu!"

XXX

Nebi didn't stop once he reached outside, and dashed off down the sidewalk outside their branch building. Kazari shouted for him to stop, but the animal didn't listen, and thus she was left with no option but to chase after him down the street. Ruiko followed soon after.

"Uiharu, where are you going?" She asked, catching up with the other girl fairly quickly. Kazari huffed for breath, but was determined to not lose the cat from sight.

"I'm – following – Nebi." She breathed, and when the cat suddenly turned and ran into an alleyway, she followed without hesitation.

"Uiharu – wait!"

"Run around the other way in case he exits through there!" Kazari called, without stopping for even a second, and hurried on down the alley.

"Ah – okay!"

Nebi was at least easy to spot; that red coat with bleak stripes was quite distinguishable against the dark colors of Academy City's alleyways. But even if that was the case, Kazari soon lost sight of him; the cat was quicker than her, after all.

_Is this the reason they need us to pass those running tests? _Kazari gasped for breath as she turned yet another corner and was met with a chain fence taller than herself. She stopped and leaned her hands on her knees, heaving for breath.

"Uiharu!" Ruiko appeared on the other side, having run around the block. "I saw him heading over there!" She pointed, and Kazari looked at the building on the other side of the street.

"A – Child Error facility…" she breathed.

XXX

They crossed the street in front of the Child Error facility that the cat had disappeared into, and approached the gate were a sign told them they had arrived at Jisou Care. Entering, they found themselves in a playground filled with children. They were intercepted by several gleeful boys and girls before they could reach the main entrance; all of them asking who they were and how old they were, and what powers they had, and why didn't Ruiko have her armband on?

"Are you here to arrest Ashi-sensei?" One boy asked, making Ruiko sweat-drop.

"No, no, we aren't here to arrest anyone." Kazari laughed. "We're looking for a cat, actually, with red fur and white stripes. Have you seen it?"

The children instantly grew wary, eyeing each other and wriggling their hands.

"Hyou-chan hasn't been home for many days," a small girl said; she was instantly hushed by the others, and a boy smacked a hand over her mouth. Kazari smiled awkwardly.

"I guess we'll have to ask the facility manager." She said. They pulled themselves free of the grips and continued on to the entrance. There was a huge doorbell on the outside; Kazari pushed it. They heard no sound, so there was no way of knowing whether it worked or not.

That's why they jumped when the door suddenly banged open and the sour face of a middle-aged woman glared out at them. She was wearing gold-rimmed glasses on a long hawk nose, and Ruiko was staring unashamedly at the nose in question.

"Um…" Kazari said with a nervous smile, when it didn't seem like the woman was going to say anything. "Hello…"

The woman continued to glare, though her gaze was directed at Ruiko, who was still staring as if enthralled on her rather large nose.

Kazari discreetly stomped her foot, and Ruiko swallowed a gasp of pain. "We are from Judgment." Kazari smiled, ignoring Ruiko's tearful glare. "We are looking for a red- and white-striped cat. Have you by any chance—"

"There are no cats here." The woman curtly said, and then the door smacked closed before they could utter another word.

Kazari and Ruiko stared at the closed door feeling like they'd just witnessed a rare animal poke its head out for the first time in centuries. Even her voice had been like that of decades without use, dry and raspy.

"Um…" Ruiko scratched her cheek. "What now? The cat definitively ran in here…"

Kazari sighed, shoulders drooping. "That woman didn't seem very helpful…" She gazed up at the heavy door and pursed her lips. Then she looked around the garden; the children were playing on the swings and the spiraling slide, blissfully ignorant of their predicament.

"They certainly seemed to know about the cat, though." Ruiko said, gazing thoughtfully at the kids as well. She suddenly grinned and cracked her knuckles. "Want me to…?"

"No, no, definitively not!" Kazari wailed, waving her hands desperately.

"Jeez, I was just joking…"

"You shouldn't joke about that! It's not funny!"

The door opened again. "Oh –"

They both turned around and unconsciously stepped back a notch. That was a natural reaction when faced with a tall girl like this – and she was wearing the Tokiwadai winter uniform.

"Aaah!" Kazari couldn't help the squeal as she clasped her hands in front of her chest, and Ruiko looked at her in alarm. Her eyes were shimmering with indescribable joy. "Aaaaaaaah~"

The girl in front of them had apparently been just about to leave, but stopped when she saw them standing on the porch. She was beautiful; long, chestnut brown hair tied in a ponytail, and though she was tall, she radiated a kind of calm elegance. She looked questioningly at them.

"Err…" Ruiko grinned awkwardly, Kazari seemingly having lost the ability to speak. "Hi there. We're from Judgment, and we're looking for a cat that seems to have escaped onto the premises…"

The girl was surprised, and then sighed. "Honestly, again?"

"Eh?"

The Tokiwadai student ran a hand through her hair and straightened. "Seriously. Well, I guess the manager wasn't very helpful. Come with me."

She turned and entered the building again, and Ruiko hesitated, then grabbed Kazari by the hand and dragged the dazed Judgment member in through the door.

XXX

The inside of the facility looked much like any other dorm. From what little they could see when marching past, there was a dining hall, a common room (where a few more kids watched TV at the moment), and a big kitchen.

The Tokiwadai student didn't stop to introduce them to any of it. She determinedly led them to another door, and pulled it open. It revealed a staircase that could lead nowhere but the cellar. Without a notch, the tall girl started descending.

"Aah –" Ruiko started, still holding onto a glittery-eyed Kazari, and received no reaction whatsoever. The staircase was well lit and seemed quite modern, like all buildings in Academy City, but she still felt a bit awkward at following a complete stranger into a cellar like this.

She gritted her teeth and turned to Kazari. "Hey, Uiharu, get a grip here!" She shook her fiercely.

Kazari snapped back into the real world. "Ah, I totally lost focus!"

Ruiko sighed. "I think I should be worried… either way, you're the Judgment member here, please show some responsibility."

Kazari blushed. "O-of course I am, let me handle this, Saten-san!" And she marched down defiantly. Ruiko followed with a small sigh.

The staircase ended in a big room, well-lit and furnished with tons of toys and games. Shelf upon shelf with board games and mind games used to enhance psychic abilities lined the wall, and in one corner, a couple of boys were building a tower of wooden blocks using their levitation abilities.

"Man, even those brats are higher level than me." Ruiko said dryly.

They followed the tall girl into a corridor, past several doors, down another corridor with what looked like several cupboards and small storage rooms, and finally stopped outside a worn-down door in the end of the hall.

The Tokiwadai student grabbed the handle and opened the door without hesitation.

"Waah!" There was a surprised yell from inside the room they'd just revealed. Peeking inside, Kazari and Ruiko could see a room that was obviously meant to be used as a cupboard, but like the corridor it was located in, it seemed dusty and moist. There was only one lamp hanging in the ceiling, throwing some hesitant light upon the numerous boxes and rags stashed everywhere. A small, rectangular window on the wall barely let in some sunlight. There was a mountain of boxes underneath it, and it seemed to be stuck in a slightly open position – perhaps just enough for a small cat to squeeze through.

A small girl sat by one of the storage boxes, and she was staring in alarm at them over her shoulder. She was wearing a yellow skirt and top, and her brown hair was cropped short and fluffy.

The Tokiwadai student sighed and put her hands on her waist. "Miki, did you bring in another monster?"

"Mou, he's not a monster!" The girl protested. "Ryoko, you're always so mean to Hyou-chan!"

"Ah –" Kazari gasped, recognizing the voice. "You're the one who called our office!"

The little girl glared at them harshly, cheeks puffed.

"Oh, so it's still the same one." Ryoko walked further into the room, and Kazari and Ruiko followed. "I told you to keep that thing under control!" The tall girl continued. "You know it's forbidden to have pets, and you promised you'd –"

"Hyou-chan just wanted some fresh air!" The little girl claimed, squirming closer to one of the boxes beside her. "He got lost, and couldn't hear my voice! He was scared too!"

Ryoko put a hand to her forehead in defeat. "Miki, you know he can't actually hear your voice. And I promised to let you keep him only if you could take proper care of him –"

"Hyou-chan _can _hear my voice! Stupid Ryoko!"

There was a small _meow_, and then a red-coated kitten with white stripes leisurely trudged out of the cardboard box beside the small girl.

Kazari instantly recognized it. "Nebi!"

"IIIIIIIIIIIIH!" The small girl suddenly screeched loudly; Kazari and Ruiko both smacked their hands to their ears in surprise.

"Miki!" Ryoko yelled.

The small girl silenced, but pouted heavily. "His name is Hyou-chan." She said.

"…s-sorry…" Kazari hesitantly apologized for her grave mistake.

"Um, but this means N – Hyou-chan is back with his proper owner, right?" Ruiko proposed, smiling awkwardly at Kazari. "Mission accomplished, right?"

"Seems so…"

"Hyou-chan was very scared when he got lost." Miki said. She was stroking the cat over its back, and the kitten mewed. "I tried calling him, but it's so hard… and then when we were at the pool yesterday, I saw one of those screens." She nodded to herself, as if everyone obviously knew what kind of screens she was talking about. "I waited till Ashi-sensei was out, then I snuck down and used the phone to call the number on the screen…"

"You know Ashida-san will get furious if she hears you call her that…" Ryoko sighed.

"I don't care; she is evil!" Miki answered with a kind of scary conviction.

"Just because she's a little strict…"

"Ryoko you just say that because you're a grown-up and don't live here anymore!" Miki heatedly accused. "Ashi-sensei said if she ever saw Hyou-chan again she'd chop his tail off! That's _evil_!"

Kazari sweat-dropped; she could hardly argue with that.

"Why is she so strict about having pets?" Ruiko asked, a thoughtful look on her face.

Ryoko sighed and turned towards them. "This is a Child Error facility; there are a lot of different kids here. If everyone was to keep a pet, it'd be a hassle to care for them all… the kids don't have any income, so the facility would have to pay for veterinary bills and equipment…"

"Hyou-chan hunts his own food!" Miki claimed, hugging the cat close.

"Yeah, he hunts the biscuits and left-overs you bring into this room." Ryoko rolled her eyes.

"Mou, Ryoko, you're just mean!" The small girl whined, and put her tongue out. Kazari smiled at the display; these two seemed close, like sisters.

Ryoko sighed and turned to the door and put a hand on the handle. "Well, you better keep that monster hidden. If Ashida-san finds out you're hiding a cat, she's bound to –"

"I am not sure I heard you clearly there, Unabara-san. Please repeat."

When the door opened, a dry and humorless voice suddenly entered their conversation; all the girls inside the room turned with alarm and stared right into the face of the facility manager. Her mouth was but a thin line, her brow deeply furrowed.

Ryoko stepped backwards, as if in reflex. "Aaah, Ashida-san… hello."

"Hel-lo." She greeted mechanically, while glaring fiercely at the small girl in the back. "I heard noises and thought there may be rats down here."

Miki shrunk together, clutching the kitten tightly to her chest.

"Um…" Kazari started, feeling kind of misplaced, and the facility manager shot her a brief, poisonous look that made her jump. Then the woman entered the tiny room, making it even more cramped. She reached down and grabbed hold of Miki's arm, forcing her up from the floor. The small girl cried, but the woman did not let go. She glared pointedly at the animal clutched to the girl's chest.

"I think I have made myself clear in the past that pets are strictly forbidden in this facility." She said.

Miki sobbed loudly. "But Hyou-chan is-!"

"That _thing_ is but a mere ball of fur and drool that will scratch every single wall to shreds and eat your share of the meals. It is not part of this establishment."

"He is my friend!"

"With all due respect, Ashida-san," Ryoko stepped forward, "Miki-chan seems to believe this animal is able to hear her thoughts, and has bonded with it quite a bit…"

"Not that ridiculous concept again, Unabara." Ashida-san snapped. "There are no abilities that enable an esper to communicate with animals."

"But he does!" Miki-chan cried, trying hopelessly to wrench her arm out of the tight grip. Hyou-chan was still hanging in her other arm, mewing at the commotion. "He does, he does! He actually came back to me when I called for him! Uwah—" Ashida-san snatched the cat out of her arms suddenly, and Miki-chan desperately reached for it. However the woman lifted it up out of her reach, and stared at the cat as if contemplating its very existence. Hanging from her hand in the skin of his neck, the animal seemed even smaller.

Ashida-san said: "You actually believe this animal understands human language? In that case, we ought to have it checked out, don't we?"

Ruiko sweat-dropped; it seemed the woman had interpreted the information in a slightly different way than the rest of them. Kazari, however, felt an unpleasant feeling knit in her gut. The gaze of the facility manager had suddenly changed, from an angry expression to one of interested greed.

"He does understand me! Give him back!" Miki-chan kicked the woman squarely in the shin, and Ashida-san let out a painful cry and then tossed the little girl to the floor. "You brat!"

Miki-chan was crying; Ruiko knelt beside her and tried to console her wordlessly, while Ryoko seemed to have gone stiff from shock.

Kazari gritted her teeth. "How can you treat your own children like that!" She cried suddenly, rage fuelling her voice.

Ashida-san turned to look at her, and her glare could melt a hole through a steel bar. "They are _not_ my children." She said venomously. "They are mere Child Errors left behind by their irresponsible parents. My job is to keep them from turning into criminal delinquents."

"Why can't Miki-chan and Hyou-chan be allowed to live in peace then!" Kazari cried. "They are good friends, can't you see that?"

"Making friends with animals can hardly be considered healthy." The woman snapped. "And who let you inside anyway?" Her glare turned to Ryoko, the obvious culprit. The Tokiwadai student met her gaze squarely. "Unabara, you show them the way out this very moment!"

Ryoko's gaze lowered, and Kazari's cheeks reddened even more. "Where are you taking Hyou-chan?" She demanded to know.

Ashida-san smiled slightly. "While talking with animals is just a childish dream, I better do a thorough check of it to make justice to Miki-chan. If there is any chance that this animal has any sort of special ability, it will be a breakthrough for Academy City. I cannot let such a chance go, now can I?" She grinned at Kazari, who literally exploded.

"I won't let you do such a terrible thing to Hyou-chan or Miki-chan!" She shrieked. "Judgment won't allow it!"

The woman glared at her again. "You might be a member of Judgment, but this is _my_ facility. I have not broken any laws, and a gang of girls squeaking their protests is not enough to make me decide otherwise." And then she strode on out of there, the kitten still hanging from her hand as if it was a rag to be thrown out.

Kazari still fumed, but she couldn't do much other than glare at the floor, feeling the rage and disappointment flutter within.

"There, there…" Ruiko was trying to console Miki-chan, who had hidden her face in her arms and was crying openly. Suddenly Ryoko sat beside her, and picked the crying girl up gently.

"R-Ryoko!" Miki-chan cried and buried her face into her Tokiwadai jacket. "H-Hyou-chan…!"

"Ssssh." Ryoko said and stroked her hair. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Don't cry."

XXX

"Well, that was a letdown." Ruiko sighed as they once again stood outside on the street.

Ryoko had carried Miki-chan to her room, and then followed the two girls out. Her face had been closed off and distant, and when they exited through the iron gates, the older girl didn't even offer them a word of goodbye before she left.

Kazari felt awful. For some unexplainable reason, she had a horrible feeling of guilt churning in her stomach. Somehow, if she had just… but even as Judgment, there was no room for her to step in and… She clenched her eyes shut.

"Hey…" Ruiko put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that Ryoko will fix things up. She seemed like she really cared for Miki-chan."

Kazari lowered her head and stared at the ground, feeling like she wanted to cry.

"Ah, I know!" Ruiko perked. "To get you in the mood, how about we go eat some ice cream and then look around for that new Hitotsui Hajime poster? Though I already have it, but you never know, it might become valuable someday, so we better grab as many as we can!"

Kazari couldn't match the beaming radiance from the other girl, but she didn't know what else to do either. Going back inside the Child Error facility would hardly do any good, not like she knew what to say to that woman either way. And like Ruiko said, it seemed like that Tokiwadai student felt responsible for what had happened too. Perhaps she was already planning on fixing it.

But still… still… "I'm sorry, Saten-san, but I'm going back to the office." She looked up at the other girl, determination settling in her expression.

"Eh?" Ruiko asked. "Why? Did you suddenly receive a distress signal through those antennas?" She gazed at the flowery headband in her hair.

"They're not antennas, they're flowers!" Kazari protested, and then she huffed. "Besides, there's no 'why'. I'm a Judgment member; I can't just skip work to go eat ice cream when people are in need of my help."

Ruiko gazed at her for a second, before a small smile settled on her lips. "Heh. I guess I can't argue with that one. Good luck, Uiharu."

* * *

Note:

Have any of you seen the Disney movie "Monsters inc"? Remember that slug lady in the reception which always nagged about reports? That drone voice that screeched into your brain from the first time you heard it… even though it's ages since I saw that movie, for some reason, that's what went through my mind when writing Ashida-san.

I feel like I'm saying this almost every chapter, but I still want to thank everyone who reviews – if you didn't say anything, I'd be all "Oh my God, no-one says anything, they're appalled and too kind to say it, aaaah my life is ruined!" and then I'd despair for a few minutes before trying to amend my ways by rearranging sentences so that they are even more perfect in my head. So, thanks! It doesn't matter if you don't have anything brilliant or fantastic to say, I just love to hear what you thought of the chapter and the story so far =D

(I would list you all but it's starting to become quite a lot of names – in any case, I really appreciate it ^^)

Words and terms:

_Jisou_ Care = basically "_Children_ Care"

_Ashi _(悪し) means "evil".

_Hyou_ = Leopard or panther.

**Next time: **Dangerous stuff


	15. Chapter 15: Dangerous Detention

**Chapter 15: Dangerous Detention**

Detention in Tokiwadai middle school apparently meant doing manual labor grouped up with those that may have gotten a detention for the same reason as you. Due to Sumone-san being injured however, her detention would be delayed until she recovered. That meant Kuroko and Misaka-san was doomed to do the work; just the two of them.

It seemed like a curse was following her around.

"Seriously, why do we have to weed the entire garden?" Mikoto huffed, gazing at the enormous amount of flowerbeds in front of them.

Tokiwadai had, in addition to many other high-class activities, flower decoration as an optional class. Of course, in pure Tokiwadai pride they grew their own flowers for this purpose. They were sprayed with Academy City's non-toxic anti-weed formula, and was literally perfect in every way. However, it seemed like the weeds in Academy City had been exposed too much to this substance and was growing immune to it. So the need to weed manually was once again a reality.

Thinking about these useless things, Kuroko tried to ignore the fact that she was stiff as a rod, trying to keep her face arranged in a natural fashion. She had thought spending the afternoon with Misaka-san in detention would go by without a hitch. If Misaka-san still avoided her and would not talk to her after what happened yesterday, it would be no problem at all. And if she for some reason _didn't _avoid her, Kuroko would stay elegantly neutral however long it was required. She had come to terms with the online test being humbug, after all; there was no way one could fall in love with someone you argued so much with. Her mind had been in shambles ever since she witnessed those girls in the alley, and the stress at work lately only added to it, not to mention that sudden conversation she had overheard which made no sense anyway. Indeed, it was merely confusion, nothing else. Having straightened that out, she would be acting perfectly normal.

That was her flawless plan.

And yet her body was shivering, her face sweating, and her eyes stinging from the stress of keeping them staring straight ahead. The day was warm, and the job ahead a sweaty mess. Thus, they were dressed in their gym attire. Normally this wouldn't cause a steadfast being as Kuroko to become all nervous, but currently, her mind was close to suffocation. The reason for her current lack of oxygen would be Misaka-san's slender, delicate legs that were showing off in all of their glory beneath the short, red gym shorts she was wearing.

_Get a grip, Kuroko!_ She shook her head violently. _It's just Misaka-san! You've seen her in gym shorts before, haven't you?_ She had, just briefly, during the gym lesson on Friday. Although they changed and showered at the same time, 1A and 2A didn't have gym class together. She'd determinedly settled at a spot in the opposite end of the changing and shower rooms as Misaka-san and Sumone-san, and had only caught a glimpse of them when they walked out of the room. However, that was somehow entirely different._ You already concluded those tests were wrong, didn't you! They're online tests! There's no way they would know anything about a person's feelings!_

"Are you feeling all right there? You look a little pale." Misaka-san commented, and Kuroko's brain short-circuited. Waiting for a few seconds without receiving an answer, Misaka-san then sighed again. "Well, standing around here won't make the weeds disappear." She reached into the wheelbarrow beside them and picked up a pair of working gloves.

XXX

It was hot under the sun, and sweat ran down her forehead in streams. Her arms were sore and her neck stiff. She'd picked tens and hundreds of weeds, piling them into the wheelbarrow in masses. Still they were strong in forces, as if even the weeds in Academy City had supernatural powers. She was tired and thirsty and irritated, and she couldn't decide whether the silence was good or not. Her mind was in shambles, trying to repress the memory of the conversation she had overheard almost an hour ago, and simultaneously trying to forget who she was working with right now.

Her eyebrows twitched as she pulled yet another green weed from the soil. She glared at it, as if it was the culprit behind her current predicament.

"Really, doing this instead of Judgment work, I am ashamed." She muttered, flinging the weed into the wheelbarrow mercilessly. Trying to get her mind onto other things by thinking about work might be a coward's way out, but it wasn't like she could do anything about what she had heard either way.

"Do you miss cuffing up bad guys?" Misaka-san asked soberly.

She hadn't meant for the upperclassman to hear; all her barbs instantly sprouted. "That is not the only thing I do, and it is not for my own pleasure either, unlike a certain numbskull who takes to electrify the entire neighborhood whenever someone uses the wrong word!"

"I do not!" Misaka-san snapped back, and then huffed. "Sheesh, you're just as cheerful as always. And don't tell me you never use your ability for dealing with all those morons."

"I see no reason to having to defend myself in that regard." Kuroko spat, and proudly raised her chin, as if to impress the flowers in front of her. "I, as a member of Judgment, has every right to do so, whereas you, a mere civilian, should stay put on the sideline."

"Oh, _'a mere civilian_.'" Misaka-san mimicked, and Kuroko's shoulders rose in tense irritation. "Really, do you know who you're talking to? You make it sound like I'm some helpless maiden in need of a knight in shining armor." The boastful level five sighed, and Kuroko gritted her teeth.

"If you're so high and mighty, how come you don't join Judgment yourself?" She snapped, turning around to glare at the other girl. "That way you could hunt criminals and perhaps do some _good_ to Academy City in the process."

Misaka-san looked up from the other side of the flowerbed she was working in, surprise written over her entire face. "Judgment?"

"Don't say it like it's a foreign word!" Kuroko snapped. "We are the ones cleaning up your garbage and working _voluntarily _in our free time to keep this city safe. The least you could do is stop messing things up by throwing tantrums and electrifying the whole place!"

"You know… you _really _ought to work on your social skills…" Misaka-san sighed dejectedly.

"That has nothing to do with it!"

"Even so, being part of Judgment sounds like too much hassle. I have better things to spend my free time on." She started working in the flowerbed again.

"Yes, I suppose playing games at the arcade is much more satisfying." Kuroko said dryly. "Honestly, a level five should show more discipline."

Misaka-san reddened. "You keep going on and on about levels and titles; are you that hung up on it?"

"Gh –" She hadn't expected that. "Most students will have problems understanding why a high level such as yourself fails at keeping a sober public profile!" She snapped. "You ought to take your responsibility more seriously!"

"Not that again," Misaka-san sighed, "being the 'ace of Tokiwadai' and whatnot isn't something I chose, you know. It seems like people just put me on some kind of pedestal after I reached level five. It's annoying!"

Kuroko stared at her, finding the statement mildly confusing. The girl would boast about her title and status, and then suddenly she'd go and say something like this. Which was it? _Make up your mind already!_ Opening her mouth, she said; "Is it true you started out as a level one?"

She was shocked at her own tongue. _Why would I ask about THAT?_

Misaka-san looked up again, however briefly, before concentrating on the weeds once more. "And then you suddenly ask something like that." She gave a deep sigh. "Yeah, I could barely create a spark back when I started elementary school here, but I guess I had some sort of talent – that's what the teachers said, at least. I never thought much of it. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I'm just a weirdo…" She tossed a clutch of weeds into the wheelbarrow, where they landed with a hollow dump.

Kuroko found it hard to comment the statement without it turning sarcastic, so she opted for not opening her mouth. She didn't trust it to say what she wanted anyway.

"Even when I faced seemingly impossible obstacles, I thought everyone else had overcome them easily, so I did my best." Misaka-san continued. "I just thought, 'that's what everyone is doing here!' And before I knew it, I had reached level five, and then suddenly everyone viewed me as something special, my friends hardly spoke with me, and people shied away from me in the corridors, as if I'm some dangerous criminal." Another couple of weeds flew into the wheelbarrow.

Kuroko stared at her solemnly, seeing the scene from last night in her head again. _Perhaps if you didn't electrify everything around you every time you're mad, people wouldn't be scared_. She didn't voice the thought. To be honest, she could easily picture Misaka-san surrounded by a lot of friends; she was a friendly, easy-going person, after all. And yet, every single time she had met her, she had been alone. Even though she was a total opposite of Kuroko in terms of social status, she seemed just as lonely. However, while Kuroko preferred it like that and shied away from other people, it seemed like Misaka-san had no choice in the matter.

So, did she hate it being like that? For some reason, it made Kuroko's chest constrict. She gave a deep sigh to loosen it up. "Saying you aren't weird would be a lie, but it is not because of that."

"…That's not really helping…"

"During my very first system scan I was deemed level two." Kuroko continued, rising her chin proudly. "Just a few months ago, I couldn't even teleport myself. It was during the last system scan before Spring break that I was finally ranked as level four. Your achievement might be considered even greater in the eyes of this city, but to me, the difference is minimal."

Misaka-san stopped working for a moment and looked at her. A small smile formed around her lips, and Kuroko's heart skipped a beat. "Thanks… Kuroko."

Her breath hitched. "Gh – gh – y-you're welcome!" She hurriedly turned around, sweat pouring down her face in rivers.

XXX

They kept on working, and it somehow felt as if the entire world had grinded to a halt while they were trapped here in the flowerbeds behind school. The sun glared at them ignorantly, and the silence seemed deafening. For all they knew, war could have broken out on the outside of the Garden of Education.

"Man, I was shocked to hear about that bus accident." Mikoto suddenly broke the silence.

"Tsk." Kuroko gritted her teeth. Despite her efforts to seem nonchalant to Uiharu, she was still itchy at the fact that the other girl didn't know anything at all about the accident. Whether it was true that someone had been standing in the road or not, the whole thing reeked of someone wanting to hide something.

"I feel sorry for Sumone-san." Mikoto said.

"You feel sorry for that wench?" Kuroko said dryly, unable to stop herself. "She is a moron, there is no reason to feel sorry for her." To be perfectly honest, for Sumone-san to break an ankle seemed like divine judgment.

"Huuh, you sure are vile." Mikoto sighed. "You should never be happy for other's ill-fortune. Sumone-san might be annoying, but she kind of seems like the kind of girl that would fit better in a regular school, somehow. Anyway, no matter how much of a brat she is, she doesn't deserve being hurt like that."

Kuroko defiantly kept on working, glaring at the weeds as she pulled them out and stashed them in a heap beside her. For some reason, it irritated her to no end that Misaka-san suddenly came off as a caring person. Besides, she didn't _want_ to feel sorry for Sumone-san.

"Perhaps I ought to bring her some flowers." Mikoto said cheerfully, oblivious to Kuroko's brooding. "Still, it's a good thing no-one was seriously hurt."

Kuroko halted her work briefly, contemplating for a moment. "It is almost like a déjà vu from yesterday." She commented at last.

"You think so?" Mikoto didn't sound particularly bothered as she flung another weed into the wheelbarrow.

"Yes, everyone was talking about it," Kuroko said, and slowly, a smug tone entered her voice, "how it was a miracle that the bus didn't hit anyone when it slid over the plaza. I guess it was just as miraculous as nobody getting hurt today. I wonder if the culprit is the same?" She was curious as to whether the other girl would tell her she'd been the one to knock over the other bus.

Misaka-san didn't answer. Kuroko could hear her moving and working, and she sneaked a look back at the upperclassman, but could only see her back from where she sat. _There is no doubt that the one who upturned that bus is you, you know._ Did she even realize what she'd done?

The silence was stretching out however, and Kuroko suddenly felt sweaty for whole other reasons than the sun. "Erm…" she started, but just then, Mikoto said: "The school board is acting real weird though. What's up with asking us to move around in groups?"

…She skillfully dodged Kuroko's question. Though she should inquire more, Kuroko found she didn't want to risk another outbreak of furious lightning strikes right now. The lack of an answer was, in a sense, answer enough. "Well, they are concerned about their students, I guess." She said.

"Honestly, as if there's some big scary axe murderer out there waiting to take us out one by one?" Mikoto huffed. "Just because there was an accident with a bus it doesn't mean someone sabotaged it to get rid of our students…"

Kuroko's eyes widened slightly. She turned towards her upperclassman. "You didn't hear about the man?"

"What man?" Mikoto asked.

_She hasn't heard the rumors?_ Kuroko was surprised. Even for someone like herself, who was not interested in rumors in the slightest, it had been impossible to dodge this one. "Apparently there was a man in the middle of the road, and the bus crashed when it tried to avoid him." She couldn't keep the distaste out of her voice; she still found this too incredible to be plausible.

"Really?" Mikoto said, looking up. "Huuh, to be able to sneak into the Garden… he sounds kind of interesting!"

"Why did your level of enthusiasm suddenly soar?" Kuroko huffed. "In any case, it is ridiculous. There is no way anyone could have entered with all the security surrounding us in here."

Misaka-san gazed into the air thoughtfully. "Well, I've heard they have all kinds of cameras and sensors, even ultraviolet ones… but if there was someone who could manipulate them, or perhaps tune his wavelength to match that of something that was not so easy to pick up…"

Kuroko frowned. "Wavelength?"

"Ah, you probably haven't learned this yet, with it coming up later in the year for you, but… speaking theoretically, if an esper could make himself emit wavelengths of a lower frequency, he would not be visible to the human eye or even infra-red or ultraviolet sensors." Mikoto started pulling weeds again while talking. "In a way, it's like controlling your own electromagnetic field on a very small scale – while the light you reflect would normally have a wavelength that makes you visible to those around you, if you alter the wavelength, you also affect what or who can see you. Human eyes can normally only see wavelengths with 450 to 750 nanometers in-between the 'wavetops'. Infrared wavelengths can have up to 14,000 nanometers distance between those tops. They have a much lower frequency, and thus a higher wavelength, than what we're able to see. But if you mimicked those infra-red wavelengths, the infra-red cameras would pick you up of course."

"So that means, if you lower the frequency even more…"

"Let's say you imitate the wavelength and frequency of radio waves –" Mikoto flung another clutch of weeds into the wheelbarrow without interruption; "they have an even lower frequency than infra-red waves, and you can't see radio waves either, right? So, if an esper tuned his own wavelength to match that of radio waves, we wouldn't be able to see him at all, and neither would an infra-red camera."

"So in essence, he would be invisible to the eye, and the cameras wouldn't be able to pick him up." Kuroko said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "I see… that _is _plausible…"

"Of course, if you had a radio nearby you would be able to pick up a large amount of noise – but I don't think they have that kind of old-fashioned radios hanging all over the place, and even if you did pick up noise, it might be from something else."

Kuroko frowned. Even so… "While it sounds plausible and all, I fail to see why anyone would enter the Garden only to cause a bus crash. Ah!" Her expression suddenly became dramatic. "It could be a guy who has been dumped by a girl in our school and wanted to take revenge." She put a hand on her chin thoughtfully. "If so, we have to get a list of those that has newly dumped their boyfriends – it can't be that many – and then start questioning them…"

"Where did you get that sudden idea from?" Misaka-san sighed and looked back down into the flowerbed. "Still, even if it was someone like that who caused the accident, I don't see the use of having us group up like sheep."

"Well, I am not surprised you don't understand such an idea." Kuroko huffed. "And if someone is really out to hurt our students, strolling around on your own is hardly the safest approach. Not everyone can simply fry their opponent with electricity."

"There you go again with the insults." Mikoto huffed. "Whatever. That's not the point. I meant that there's no reason to think that was a planned move against Tokiwadai at all; it was just an accident, right? An accident." She sounded somehow agitated. "That's what they say, at least. But if someone really snuck into the Garden, I find it hard to believe that they just _happened _to stumble into the road in front of the bus. And if they really do think it was an accident, asking us to move around in groups is a severe contradiction."

Kuroko could see where she was going with this. "So you think the school board or Anti-Skill is hiding something from us about this man or the incident itself?"

"I don't even know what to think right now. It's just too weird."

Kuroko couldn't help but think she was onto something though. If the school board wanted to have them moving about in groups, that meant the culprit was still on the loose. So did they really fear he was targeting Tokiwadai students? _Uugh, my head is starting to hurt…_

XXX

Despite headaches and swirling thoughts, they worked in silence for a few minutes, with the only sounds coming from the weeds hitting their relatives in the wheelbarrow.

"Ah, man," Mikoto suddenly said, "this is too hot!" It sounded like she stood up to stretch; Kuroko kept pulling weeds, still trying to process the conversation they'd just had. She felt weird; hot and bothered and thoughtful, yet somewhat pleased. It was unsettling. No matter how much she thought about it, there was no obvious solution to the case of the bus, and she hoped Uiharu had sent her some more clues by the time they were finished here.

She turned around to throw another clutch of weeds into the wheelbarrow, and then stopped, eyes widening in horror. Misaka-san was standing with one gloved hand on her waist. In the other she held a bottle of water, which was raised to her mouth, lips wrapped around the spout and her throat gently moving with the water swallowed down. Her skin was slick with sweat, glistening in the sunlight.

Suddenly, a tremendous noise left Kuroko's throat. "AAAAAAAAAAH-!"

Misaka-san coughed, surprised at the sudden outburst. "What the heck?" She asked, angrily turning on the younger girl.

Kuroko stared at the clutch of weeds in her hand instead of the girl in front of her and started spluttering: "I-I-I just noticed how this weed here is in a slightly different color – it's abysmal, a system error of nature!" Sweat poured down her face.

Misaka-san gazed at her for a moment before giving a deep sigh. "Are you really alright? You're starting to sound like a freak…"

"Aaah –" Kuroko was stumped at the blatant comment, and then nervously laughed and turned around, sitting with her back to the upperclassman. "Any person could go insane from working for this long and not even be half finished. I should be doing Judgment work at this time!" Again escaping her troubles by bringing up work.

"We've only been working for forty minutes, and you're going nuts already? Sheesh." Mikoto huffed. Kuroko started pulling more weeds rather than offer an answer. Misaka-san continued soberly: "Either way, it's weird to complain about not being able to work while you're working. At least complain about not having time for your hobbies or something more normal."

"Hobbies are for those with free time." Kuroko muttered, suddenly imagining herself playing a violin for some reason. Come to think of it, she actually did use to photograph back in elementary. She had had no time to do it recently, and her SLR camera was growing dusty on her desk. She hadn't had the time to visit any clothes stores recently either. Thanks to the visit with Hitomi-san last week she'd finally been able to throw out all of her childish old underwear, but she would like to stay updated. That was, after all, what any middle school girl with respect for herself should do.

"Perhaps you ought to rethink your priorities then." Mikoto said. "I'm sure Academy City doesn't want its Judgment members to rot away in their offices, you know? Haha." She gave a stupid laugh.

Kuroko glared at the flowers in front of her, feeling like she'd been slapped upside the head all of a sudden. Perhaps she really did ought to take a break now and then… but that was impossible! She shook her head forcefully. She'd worked so hard to become a full-fledged Judgment member, why did she suddenly consider taking time off?

A hand touched her shoulder, and she jumped. Looking up, she felt her breath hitch as Misaka-san smiled down at her. "Here, you look like you need a refreshment."

What she held in her hand for Kuroko to take was the water bottle. The same one she had just been using. Kuroko's head exploded in a volcanic rupture the size of Yellowstone.

"I don't want to share your bacteria!" She screeched and slapped her hand away.

Mikoto pulled back. "Woah, relax, you just seemed like you were having a heat stroke over here. It's not like you have to drink directly from it; most people wouldn't even consider something like that." She popped the bottle shut. The sound resembled that of a door closing off, and Kuroko regretted her action for a moment.

She forced herself to turn around and stared into the flowerbed. Her whole body was trembling at the dangerous zone she'd just been in. _It's not that I think of it as an i-i-indirect kiss or anything, it's just that sharing a bottle with her, I might get smitten by her moronic bacteria!_ She defiantly started pulling weeds again while her mind swirled. _Yes, that's it; if I drink of the same bottle as her, I might become a moron too! Indeed, that's it!_

"Honestly, you switch moods way too suddenly, it's hard to keep up." Mikoto sighed and turned away. "Oh, by the way," she added; Kuroko turned her head slightly and glared at her. The second-year was looking at the wheelbarrow, which was brimming with weeds. "It's full."

XXX

And thus, three hours passed. Three hours of sweat, silent curses, stubborn weeds and smelly flowers.

Kuroko sat wheezing by the second to last flowerbed, covered in dirt and grime and glaring at nothing in particular. She was fully expended, every single muscle in her body screaming from exhaustion, and she was hungry to boot. If anything, she looked like she had been in a mud wrestling match, and just barely emerged as the winner. After more than three hours of work, they were almost done.

And yet, something was bothering her greatly. One fact that mercilessly burned its presence into her mind and stung at her sub consciousness.

Slowly, her stare turned sideways, and the metal form of the wheelbarrow entered her point of view. It was brimming with weeds again. This would be the fourth time. And Misaka-san had said nothing yet; the second-year was still pulling weeds in the last flowerbed without a care in the world.

_Is she going to…_ Kuroko's eyebrow twitched. She had somehow ended up with the job of emptying it every time up to now. She could not exactly say why or how, but she suspected Misaka-san had some kind of persuasive ability, as she hadn't exactly _commanded_ Kuroko to do it. Of course, using her ability to move the heavy thing made the job quick, but also added to her exhaustion.

Therefore, before Misaka-san even had a chance to say anything, Kuroko said: "The wheelbarrow is full."

Misaka-san looked up, and gazed at the wheelbarrow briefly. "Hmm. You're right." She continued to pull weeds.

Kuroko bristled. _She _is _going to…!_ "This time _you _empty it!" She exclaimed.

Misaka-san gazed up at her for a moment, and then back to the wheelbarrow. With a small sigh the second-year stood and approached the thing, and then, with an expression of nonchalant boredom, put her hand on the metal surface – and electrified the whole thing.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Kuroko screeched.

"I'm magnetizing it, of course." Mikoto said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Kuroko stared as the whole thing lifted from the ground and flew toward the container, barely ten meters away from them now. It was then upturned in the air above it before flying back to their side and landing on the soil with a thud.

"There, all done!" Mikoto grinned proudly.

Kuroko fought the urge to leap on the girl and knock her senseless. "You had that kind of ability all along and yet you made _me_ go empty it?" She had used her own ability to do it every time too, so in fact they were both quite spoiled in that sense, but it still hurt her pride.

"Hm, you mean magnetism?" Mikoto looked at the wheelbarrow. "Well with this kind of material it's not hard at all; I can't do anything with non-ferrous substances though."

Kuroko stared at the wheelbarrow. "Electromagnetism, huh?" Somehow it felt really unfair. She pursed her lips, and then let out a small sigh. "I need something to drink."

"Oh – could you get something for me too? I'll pay you back of course."

Kuroko mumbled something inaudible in return and teleported over to the entrance of the school. Leaving the work gloves outside, she stepped into the silent building. School was long over; surely only the most hardcore clubs and factions were left at this time, and maybe some teachers. They would all be sitting in their respective rooms though; nobody roamed the campus and the corridors, so everything was quiet.

_Only those with detention are left here now._ Sigh.

Then again, if she hadn't been in detention, she wouldn't have heard _that_… she frowned. It seemed surreal by now, hours later; Hitomi-san and Asanuma-san talking in secret inside a classroom, sounding like they were just about discussing their loving relationship out of earshot of the teachers. What had they been talking about again? Something about Asanuma-san being worried about the students' safety…? She'd been too shocked by the other things they discussed to even give it proper thought until now. _For Asanuma-san to try and scare her out of the election campaign like that; how low can you sink? _Right now, she didn't understand why she hadn't skipped detention and faced Hitomi-san instead. If Asanuma-san really was threatening her, she had a duty as a Judgment member to step in. However… her mind had been completely blown out.

She stepped into another hallway, and found the vending machine she was sure she'd seen earlier. Walking over to it, she dug into her pocket for the credit card she always kept close by in case of emergencies.

She swiped the card and looked around. The school reminded her of an empty mansion now, kind of like those you'd find the hero stuck in in horror movie flicks. _This is the point where I should start feeling like I'm being watched, right? _She thought, chuckling in her mind. _Then suddenly, there'd be this weird noise – _BEEP!

"AARGH!" She jumped sky high, and her heart pounded like a steam engine. _Honestly!_ The vending machine had beep'ed to tell her the card was accepted and she could now choose her drinks.Feeling utterly stupid, she pushed twice for the same drink, and then confirmed her choice by pressing the big green button. _She makes me buy her drinks too now. _She wondered whether Misaka-san would simply kick it to make it spit out some soda. She picked up the cans that dropped into the collector and held them to her chest. _Who knew she'd look so good in gym attire though._

Her mind froze for a moment.

Her breathing accelerated, and sweat-drops appeared on her forehead. At this moment, she really did look like the main character in a horror flick who just realized someone was breathing down her neck. _She looks good in gym attire? _Her face was heating up in panic. Then she frowned. _Well, she does, doesn't she? I can say that without it meaning anything, right? Even if her breasts are way too small and her ego way too big, she actually looks pretty good. As a fellow female, I can say that._

She gulped down a breath of air and turned stiffly, planning to return to the yard. _Actually she looks good in the Tokiwadai uniform as well. Even though she's wearing shorts under the skirt._ _Well that's a trait of hers that can be worked on. Really, I wonder why she would – _suddenly she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening. No… no way. Could it be? The reason that she wore shorts under her skirt – could it be that Misaka-san meant to hide…

She pressed the cans closer to her chest, her heartbeat accelerating almost painfully. It was normal for middle schoolers to start wearing more mature variants of underwear after all, as proven by Hitomi-san (this misconception being the reason why her entire suitcase of panties had been switched out during Spring break). Perhaps, under those shorts, resting against that delicate skin and just waiting to be discovered, was the most outrageous thongs imaginable to man…

Blood exploded out of her nostrils. Dropping the cans to the floor, she slapped her hands over her nose and looked around in despair. _Bathroom! _She dashed over, way too agitated to use her ability, and flung the door open. All the restrooms in Tokiwadai was equipped with electronic hand driers, so there were no paper towels by the sinks – but even ojou-sama's need toilet paper. Bursting into one of the stalls, she tore off half a roll of paper and smacked it to her face.

She gazed at the ceiling, her face pale white. The dangerous image of Misaka-san in nothing but those thongs lingered on the edge of her mind, and she forced it away. _I don't want to see the moron like that! _She tried to convince herself, but the words rang untrue; it seemed the last couple of hours of working together had changed something in how she viewed the older girl. The truth was, Kuroko had realized that Misaka Mikoto was actually an okay person. Perhaps even more than okay.

Her heart was thumping again.

After a few minutes the nosebleed seemed to stop. She testingly removed the paper, and when nothing more flowed down her face, she gave a deep sigh and turned towards the sinks to wash off. _Really, what a joke. Catching me off-guard with such a thought and I…_ she trailed off as she gazed into the mirror, and realized the mirror was gone. Or at least part of it. It was the kind of big mirror that covered the whole section of wall above the sinks, and the part that would usually be right in front of her face was missing.

Did someone shatter it? But there was no sign of any vandalism, and the edges looked smooth, as if it'd always been this way. It seemed too random to be meant as an artistic stroke though, and the fact that the wall that had been uncovered had a different color than the rest, spoke volumes. No doubt there used to be mirror on the entire wall.

Then what was…?

There was a muffled sound behind her. Spinning around, she stared at nothing at all; nobody, no-one. _No invisible axe murderer._ Jeez, Misaka-san must have smitten her. She grinned stupidly, ignoring the uncertain feeling in her gut.

"Mh –" there was that sound again. A hushed muffle, as if someone tried to talk from behind a pillow. Kuroko instantly alerted, not one to believe in ghosts or monsters, and thereby instead concluding this was a human sound.

Someone was in here.

"Who's there?" She asked, and peeked into the first stall. It was empty. With the only answer being more muffled sounds, she opened the next, and the next – until she reached the middle one, which was locked. The locks were of the old-fashioned kind, and could easily be opened or locked from the outside with something like a screwdriver.

Kuroko had no time to go look for one though.

_If there's really someone in there who just needs their private time, I'm really sorry!_ She put a hand on the door, and teleported it to the floor behind her with a noisy clatter.

Her eyes widened. Inside the stall, standing in the open toilet and with what appeared to be a thick, glittering rope around her mouth and torso, was Asanuma-san. Her eyes were red and puffy, her long, black hair in shambles – she had scratches on her skin and was shivering.

"What the -!" Kuroko went inside and touched the gag around her mouth; it was cold and hard. "Is this…" _glass?_ She stared wide-eyed at the substance, and then focused; in an instant, the gag was gone, falling to the floor with a shatter.

Asanuma-san gasped for breath. "Oh God – oh God…" she sobbed. Kuroko removed the glass trapping her arms and legs as well, and then helped her out of the toilet. Asanuma-san leaned heavily on the smaller girl as her feet hit the floor.

"Oh my God," she gasped, "Aika… Aika…"

"What happened?" Kuroko asked. Certainly this was no accident or mere children's play. For someone to gag and bind the third-year so thoroughly, even going as far as locking the stall door, they surely had meant for her to be found as late as possible. Hadn't Kuroko showed up, who knew how long she would have been standing there – the cleaning bots wouldn't have found her, and even if the bathroom had a surveillance camera, it wouldn't be checked unless there was reason to believe something had happened. No students were left at school at this time; faculty members would use the staff restrooms. At best, she would have been found in the morning.

"Oh God, Aika…" Asanuma-san sobbed, clinging to Kuroko's shirt.

"Did Hitomi-san do this to you?" Kuroko doubted that was even possible, but trying to make sense of Asanuma-san's words came before trying to think for herself.

The black-haired girl collapsed to her knees on the floor, sobs wracking her body. "Aika was… Aika was…"

"Get a grip!" Kuroko barked, and slapped her over the cheek. She couldn't help it; this mumbling was making her nerves go haywire. "Did something happen to Hitomi-san?"

Asanuma-san stilled for a moment, maybe shocked from the slap. Then she started mumbling again, staring at the floor with empty eyes. "He got her… he took… Aika…"

"Who? What? You're not making any sense!" Kuroko's throat constricted.

"The stalker…" Asanuma-san shivered, and then suddenly grasped Kuroko's shorts fiercely. "He took Aika! My Aika, gone – he took her! Do you understand what I'm saying?" Her eyes seemed wild as she shouted at the younger girl. Kuroko gritted her teeth; she didn't understand anything, only that Asanuma-san seemed deranged.

"If you want me to understand, you should start from the beginning." She said. "First of all, why were you locked up in there? Did some of Hitomi-san's fans do that?" She had no trouble imagining some of those scary fan girls doing something like this. Having been around both Hitomi-san and Misaka-san for some time now, she'd seen the lecherous looks and creepy grins directed their way. If they thought it could somehow influence the election, Hitomi-san's fan girls might go to such extremes.

"Ahahaha!" Asanuma-san laughed, but Kuroko saw no humor in the situation. "It was – Ryoko." She then said, and the grin she sported was anything but happy. "Ryoko, Fasu-san – and that stalker…"

"Ryoko – you mean Unabara-san?" Kuroko said. "The principal's niece – Unabara Ryoko?" That arrogant girl with the ponytail, tall and elegant and just as cold as her constant partner – why would she…?

"It was in here; I was trying to make Aika change her mind, again…"

"To withdraw from the election…" Kuroko muttered.

"Then the door suddenly opened and there was a flash of light – I couldn't see anything, I just heard Aika scream…" Her hand shook as she touched her throat; Kuroko could see the cuts and red marks covering it. "Then _he _was suddenly there, grabbing my throat and pushing me into the wall. And Ryoko gagged and bound me, cursing me for being in here at all." Tears flowed down her cheeks as she spoke, and her voice turned thick. "Then they – stuffed me in that toilet and said – said it was all for my best… that I'll surely be re-elected when Aika's gone…" She sobbed again, her words drowning in tears.

Kuroko's gut was cold as ice as the words of the broken third-year trickled into her mind. It was unreal, truly a chain of events picked right out of a horror movie – but then where was the film crew?

"Do you know where they took her?" She asked breathlessly.

XXX

Kuroko ran down the corridor just when Misaka-san entered from the garden.

"Hey, Kuroko, where the heck did you –" The older girl started, but stopped short when Kuroko turned a hasty glance at her.

"Onee-sama, there's a student in the restroom down the hall – please help her out!"

"Eh – hey!" But Kuroko had no time to explain – she had no time to think at all. She continued on down the hallway with all the speed she could muster.

* * *

Note:

Personally, I love Kuroko's nose bleed. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if Tokiwadai actually has an automatic wiping system with no need for filthy toilet paper… (perhaps in the third-year's private bathroom).

Words and terms:

SLR camera = Single-lens reflex camera

Yellowstone = A humongous bastard of a volcano somewhere in the US that may someday erupt and kill us all.

**Next time:** "Do you even have the slightest clue how mad that makes me?"

**PS: A note about chapter 14** (this is long and boring, skip if you don't care about my ramblings): I never realized chapter 14 would seem so out of place; now I realize it probably would, possibly leaving you with a frustrating "FFS WHAT ABOUT KUROKO! GAAAAAAAAAAH!" feeling that may or may not have led to serious brain injuries and cancer. Sorry about that. I didn't think about that at all. Since I am the author, I tend to judge the story based on its entirety, and though I try to see each chapter as individuals as well, I might fail at noticing my own mistakes. I had a bunch of different plans of what to do with chapters 13, 14 and 15, and ended up with this solution, which may not have been the best one after all. Chapter 14 is a parallel event to chapter 15; it happens, basically, just before or at the same time. But after all, the main story revolves around Kuroko, so it did seem like a sidetrack I guess.

Thanks for being honest in your reviews, it is very valuable feedback! Now that I know how you reacted to it, I can avoid doing the same mistake twice =) I am by no means a pro author, though I feel like I've come a long way since my first fic. Your feedback is the only way I can improve, so I appreciate it!

As an apology for the shortcomings of the last chapter (poor Kazari and Ruiko; no worries, I still love you guys :3), and because these two chapters might as well have been mashed together into one giant one, AND because I actually REALLY wanted to post this chapter… I did. Hopefully, that's a good deal ;)

So, without writing an encyclopedia about this topic which I'm sure you find very interesting indeed; hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	16. Chapter 16: New Impressions

**Chapter 16: New Impressions**

At least Asanuma-san was taken care of.

That was Kuroko's comfort as she stood in front of the empty fabric of _Gurasudo inc._ It was a closed-down facility in area C of District 7, almost side-by-side with the old warehouse district – a perfect place for thugs and delinquents to hang out.

Not the place you'd come looking for princesses from Tokiwadai.

She'd stormed all the way here without thinking twice – somewhere along the way she realized she'd left everything behind at school; her clothes, her bag, even her cell phone_._

She hoped Misaka-san had found Asanuma-san and that they contacted Anti-Skill – even then, though, there was no telling how much time they had on their hands. She'd already wasted too much of it on finding this place without her GPS. When she finally grabbed the phone of a bypassing student to check the location, she had already wasted fifteen minutes.

Kuroko steadied her breath as she scanned the area; she was standing on a large open space probably used as a parking lot once, and there were several other buildings lined up around it. One of them being a giant production hall; that was her target. She noticed a surveillance camera on the wall that was obviously out of order, and tsk'ed.

Asanuma-san had told her how Tokiwadai had bought this place for the student council members; the third-year knew Unabara-san and Fasu-san used it as a private training facility. She knew nothing of what they planned to do with Hitomi-san, other than the fact that they had said she would surely be re-elected when Hitomi-san was "gone". Whatever that meant, Kuroko planned to stop them before they could do it. Hitomi-san's beaming smile flashed in her mind, and she gritted her teeth. Grumbling over the why's and how's could be done later; right now, she had to take action. She stepped forward, viewing the building in front of her critically.

The entrance to the production hall seemed to be sealed shut, like every other building on site. When the fabric was closed down, the owners probably did their best in securing the building. However in a city like this, where espers roam every street corner, such a thing as chains and locks are useless. Therefore, it seemed like they'd opted for cementing the main entrance shut like a solid block of rock. The rest of the building was of sturdy concrete, and there were no windows on the first floor.

Kuroko gave an irritated huff. Even if she could bypass the wall easily, teleporting right into an unknown space was not the smartest move. She wouldn't want to be stuck in something on the inside. There might be another entrance on the other side; after all, those two girls needed to get in and out somehow.

"Well, well, look what we have here." Someone snickered behind her; she turned and saw a gang of guys enter the parking lot area from between the two buildings on the other side. They all had stupid grins on their faces. "One little lady ready for the pick-ups." Two of them carried bats, three held solid pipes. The last one seemed to be unarmed at first glance, but might be hiding anything from a knife to one of those popular self-defense stun guns that every thug seemed to own these days. _Accomplices? _Kuroko narrowed her eyes. _Or merely random delinquents looking to kill some time? _

"I don't suppose you know anything about Hitomi Aika?" She asked, staring at them squarely.

The boy at the front grinned. He was tall and short-haired, wearing a black jacket. His eyes were awfully squinty, as if he actually needed glasses and refused to wear them. "If you're looking for your mother, she ain't here." He drawled, grinning smugly.

"Oh please," Kuroko sighed, "at least try to be original…"

The boys snickered and advanced closer, surrounding her in a semi-circle against the building. She stayed calm and eyed them carefully, even if her stomach was twirling. If it turned into a fight, this many opponents at once could prove difficult. There was no way of knowing whether some of them were espers, or how strong they were. Kuroko never doubted her own ability, but she was no fool. She would not enter a fight she had no chance of winning.

"You look rich." The guy said, eying her dirty Tokiwadai gym clothes. "We like rich girls, don't we, boys?" There was an unanimous grunt of approval from his buddies. Apparently their ability of measuring a person's fortune were well developed (or perhaps even dirty gym clothes looked like something only the rich would own in their eyes).

Kuroko narrowed her gaze. "Are you merely a gang of delinquents looking for trouble?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call us 'merely' a gang of delinquents." The one with the squinty eyes said; apparently he acted as their leader, or at least spokesperson. "My name is Kansoku. And we're _the Grizzly Bears!_" This was announced in a chorus by all the boys, obviously a practiced performance. Kuroko looked at them with a deadpan stare. _Grizzly Bears?_

She sighed and put her hands on her waist. "I don't care if you're bears or cats or tarantulas – I don't have time meddling with you. Please get lost."

"Oh, such confidence." The guy who had introduced himself as Kansoku grinned again. "You must be an esper to have the guts to stand up to us."

"That fact should merely add more reason for you to turn around and leave." Being kept up by a gang of thugs was the last thing she needed right now.

"I don't think so." Kansoku said. "I never back down from a challenge. I don't care if you're high level or whatever; I'm not scared of that. The only thing that scares me is audiences!"

Why he would tell her that was beyond Kuroko.

"If you won't give us money, at least give us a fight." He gestured with his hand, and the other boys readied themselves, clenching the weapons closer; a few chuckled. Kuroko could see where this was going.

"Are you sure you don't know anything about Hitomi Aika?" She asked again, to give them one last chance.

"I dunno anything about some wench." Kansoku grinned. "We were told we might get a good fight if we hanged around here today, so whether you want to or not, you are going to entertain us." And thus, he snapped his fingers; like a troop of soldiers receiving the signal from their sergeant, his buddies charged forward with a roar, lifting their bats and pipes; one of them made his weapon erupt into fire. Kuroko tensed, waiting for them; when the fastest one was close to enough to actually swing his bat, she teleported forward, landing elegantly behind Kansoku. The other boys stopped abruptly, looking at the point she'd vanished from with confused stares.

"I am not in the mood to play." Kuroko said tiredly.

The squinty-eyed boy turned around hurriedly. "Wha – teleporter?"

"Indeed I am. This is your last chance." Kuroko gazed at him neutrally. "I am with Judgment, and I am at work. If you keep persisting, I will arrest you."

The boy grinned. "Oh really? So Judgment actually has some interesting folks too – well, we'll see about that!" He flung his hand out and grabbed her by her wrist – she was momentarily surprised, having expected him to back down. A tingle of sorts, almost like an electrical charge, erupted from his hand and travelled up her arm right into her head, and she flinched. _An electromaster?_ He swung his left fist at her, and she ducked, then turned and twisted her wrist free of his grip.

The other boys were upon her again. She had no chance to finish off Kansoku before she had to evade the strike of a flaming metal pipe. Stepping sideways, she dodged it easily and delivered a fierce palm strike in the face of the boy swinging it, making him stumble backwards. Immediately following was another guy, swinging a bat towards her head – she stepped backwards out of its reach and sensed someone approaching from her blind spot – with no time to dodge, she teleported instead – however; her eyes widened. _Nothing happens? _For a split second, terror grabbed at her. She turned her head and received a fist directly in her cheek, making her stumble sideways and just barely able to duck and avoid another metal pipe. Someone grabbed at her shoulder. _I need to -! _But there was no feeling of transcending the three-dimensional world filling her being; in fact, there was nothing at all. She might as well have been thinking of coconuts in a far-away land instead of trying to use her ability._ Am I too wound up to use my power? Or can he counter my teleport somehow? _If her concentration was too disrupted her teleport might sometimes fail – but right now, she couldn't determine what the cause was. It was making her insides freeze up in fear.

Someone tried to knee her in her abdomen; she blocked it by crossing her arms downwards, and then ducked and pulled out of the grip on her shoulder, turned halfway and delivered a headbutt squarely in the man's stomach. He oof'ed and stumbled backwards, and Kuroko dodged another strike from a bat coming from the side, grabbing the arm holding it and yanking forward, making the man stumble and fall over with a surprised expression on his face. As he hit the ground firmly, Kuroko turned around to face the remaining opponents. They were grinning confidently, snickering at her efforts. Obviously they were in no hurry, as if this was a game to them.

"Hehe, this one is putting up quite the fight…" one of them chuckled.

She gritted her teeth. Even with her skills in martial arts, fighting six men at once like this…

"Hey girlie, why don't you use your awesome ability?" The man named Kansoku was standing off to the side, watching the scene with a pleased grin. "Or do you think you can take us all down only with some petty martial arts moves?"

Kuroko scowled and glared at the men around her, all grinning and brandishing their weapons threatingly. _This is bad._ She crouched, trying to plan her next move carefully. _As much as I say you shouldn't rely on your ability alone, this…_ She had never faced such opponents before; her experience in fighting limited itself to training and the odd resistance put up by some stubborn thugs. But facing a whole group of armed delinquents, and not being able to teleport…

Her eyes widened as someone grabbed her arm and twisted it around to her back; she cried out as pain soared through it. _I forgot the guy behind me! _She tried to teleport again, but nothing happened. Her heart was beating harshly; she was scared, and it was not a good feeling.

"What a joke," someone snorted. She gritted her teeth and tried to breath slowly. She could do nothing in this situation. The guy behind her had a fierce grip on her arm, and his other hand wound around her torso, holding her steady. The man with the flaming pipe was advancing on her, grinning. There was a red mark in his face from her palm strike, but he was otherwise unhurt.

"You're just a little girl, after all…" He was grinning widely. Adding flames to a metal pipe was hardly necessary in terms of damage to the victim, but it probably worked wonders for scaring people. Perhaps he was able to manipulate gases in the atmosphere or compress the air around the pipe… She was sweating, her breath shallow. She felt absolutely horrible. _Is it possible to suddenly lose your ability?_

"Heh…" the man with the pipe stood in front of her, and grinned as he lifted it up to the side. "Eat this!" He swung the pipe towards her head, and Kuroko winced.

CRAACK! An amazing beam of blue light hit the pipe head on, knocking it out of his hands – dust rose from the ground as the forceful blast charged past her face, and Kuroko's hair fluttered.

The man that had swung the pipe fell backwards on his butt, eyes as big as saucers, while the others turned terrified eyes in the direction of where the blast had come from. The sudden intrude upon their confrontation was baffling; Kuroko stared at the empty air in front of her with wide eyes, remembering something similar happening a few months ago in a post office. _That was…_

The arms holding her captive tightened their hold. "Kansoku, that's -!" His voice was deep, but utterly horrified as he called for his boss.

"Honestly," a new voice called out, "I heard noises, and what do you know – it's a gang of morons beating up a girl."

Kuroko's heart rose in her chest.

With a solemn look on her face, and still clad in her gym clothes, Misaka-san fearlessly stood before them on the parking lot. Her eyes had a bored look in them just as a blue crackle left her temple.

"K-Kansoku…" one of the guys muttered; he was pale-faced as he stared at the middle school girl. "It's… from the back alley…"

"R-Railgun…" another one muttered. Their faces drained of color.

"Aaah, you actually know. Spares me the introduction." Mikoto smiled brightly, and a violent shudder travelled through the group of boys.

"So you're the one who mistreated my boys back then." The man named Kansoku suddenly pulled out a knife from an inside pocket in his jacket and strode up to Kuroko. "If you come even one step closer, your friend here will be missing some body parts!" The knife was thrust to her throat, and Kuroko gritted her teeth; normally such a threat would mean nothing to her, but faced with this kind of predicament…

Misaka-san was hardly troubled at his threat though. She gave them a solemn look. "Really? Then, how about I just blast you away from here? Or are you saying you're quicker than a lightning strike?" She grinned confidently; another spark leaving her bangs. The threat radiating from her mere presence was amazing on its own. The other guys inched backwards, but Kansoku stood his ground defiantly.

"You can't take on all of us at once!" He claimed. "I know your weakness: you can only attack one person at a time!"

"What kind of lame-ass rumor is that?" Mikoto huffed, seemingly dejected. "Seriously, has this town's delinquents resorted to that kind of fairy tales? And here I thought you knew who I am." She sighed. "Even if it was true, there's only six of you. If I took out one every half a second, that makes three seconds. So, I don't see how it would matter."

"Gh." The guy gritted his teeth, and then he suddenly grabbed Kuroko by her collar and pulled her out of the grasp of the other man; she winced as she was pushed into his body, the knife pressing even tighter up against her throat while his arm pressed tightly against her chest.

Mikoto looked surprised. "How come…"

"Your friend here is a teleporter, yeah?" Kansoku grinned, and the others chuckled as well, having regained some confidence at seeing the Railgun thrown off. "However in the proximity of my _Move Interrupt_ she can't do shit."

"Move Interrupt?" Mikoto repeated, puzzled.

"Be it an esper or level zero or anyone, I can interrupt anything they try to do!" He announced loudly. "Let's just say it's a form of manipulating the EEG in your brain – analyzing and disrupting neural signals. Once I've seen an ability, I can recognize the patterns for its usage and block it completely!" He laughed.

Kuroko gritted her teeth again. So that was it. To be beaten by such an obscure ability… however; a small smile appeared on her lips.

"Heeh?" Mikoto said, smiling crookedly from her spot several meters away. She put a hand on her waist. "Analyzing electric activity in the brain, eh? That sounds neat. Does it work on every kind of ability?"

The guy's eyes widened. "It's true I've never tried my ability on someone like you," he said, eyes gleaming with something like a predator's thirst for blood, "if I interrupt your lightning strikes, you can't do anything at all!" He laughed, and then turned serious again. "But, I can only use it at one person at a time, and I have to physically touch my target to enable a connection. That's why I have this!" He made a wave with the knife, but never moved it far from Kuroko's throat. "It's simple and effective, and I'm not afraid to use it."

Misaka-san kept gazing at them, fierce determination shining in her eyes despite her smile. "You want to fight, is that it?" She said.

"You think you're so high and mighty because you're high level, don't you? I guess appearances really can be deceiving; you don't look like you're powerful at all!" He still grinned; but even though he acted confident, sweat was shining on his forehead. No doubt this sudden encounter with a level five was not accounted for in his plans.

Mikoto huffed. "I don't know what you'd have to look like to _look powerful_, but you sure don't give off that vibe yourself."

"I've always wanted to knock your kind down a step or two." The guy grinned. "How about this: If you use as much as a single spark of electricity, I'll cut her throat wide open." He pushed the knife even closer, and Kuroko tried to pull her head back in reflex. His body was in the way though. She clenched her teeth and turned her head slightly, feeling the sharp edge of the knife push against her skin. _The right moment…_

"You're just full of yourself!" Kansoku declared. "But I'm not afraid of some grade school kid!"

His words had the same effect as if someone pressed the _'Battle Mode' _button of a character in a video game. Suddenly Misaka-san's whole demeanor changed: Her expression turned emotionless, her lips losing the cheerful smile. Lowering her head slightly, the electromaster said: "Here I was trying to have a civil conversation too."

Kuroko sweat-dropped. She might as well have been erupting black smoke, so clear was the danger signs. Only a complete idiot would fail to back down. The other guys were fidgeting, eying the level five warily; obviously, they knew what they were up against. However sadly, the squinty-eyed guy called Kansoku who acted as their leader, seemed to be a complete idiot.

"So, without your electricity you're just another helpless girl, aren't you?" He laughed. "Get her, boys!"

While they still seemed just a tiny bit nervous, the other guys obediently followed his orders: "Raaah!" They rallied each other and toured forward towards Misaka-san, fists and weapons held ready. Kuroko acted at the same time. Thrusting her hand backwards into Kansoku's side, she teleported him high into the air – he let out a surprised yelp and then smashed into the ground, the knife knocked from his hand on the impact. Kuroko kicked the weapon out of his reach, put one knee into his back and proceeded to cuff his wrists up. He was too shocked to even protest, blood trickling from his mouth and nose from the impact with the ground.

"You seem to misunderstand my ability." Kuroko smugly explained from above him. "It is not only that of moving myself between the 11 dimensions, but that of moving myself or _anything I touch_. Even if you can stop me from teleporting myself, I can still teleport _you_."

The guy gritted his teeth. "Kh–"

"Wha-wha-what is _that_?" Someone exclaimed, making Kuroko turn to the scene ahead – and her eyes widened in shock. She didn't know whether to expect Misaka-san to hesitate because of a hostage or not, but the familiar sight of blue crackling electricity was surprisingly vacant. The guys had still stopped a few meters away from the level five though, and with good reason; wisps of black smoke was rising from the ground and twirling around Misaka-san like a lazy tornado. It wasn't electric charges, it wasn't spitting lightning; yet it was utterly terrifying none-the-less, or perhaps it was terrifying _because_ of that.

Kuroko's eyes widened. "Is that…" _sand?_

Without the electromaster having to move even a finger, the black smoke lashed out and hit the bat one of the guys was holding, cleanly snapping it in two with as little effort as cutting paper. The guys stiffened in fear and stared at the remaining half of the weapon in horror.

"Aah, I guess I made you look like a fool now." Misaka-san sighed, while the black smoke drifted off into the air like dust. "I don't need lightning strikes to magnetize the iron in the ground though." The guys pulled back slightly, eying her with increasingly terrified stares. Misaka-san looked over at Kuroko and the cuffed up man below her. A small smile suddenly donned her lips; Kuroko felt her heart stop.

"Honestly, you guys are really irritating." Mikoto said, once again turning to the other boys. "After finding a hurt girl in the bathroom and learning that my classmate has been kidnapped by a deranged stalker and some fellow students, I thought my mood couldn't get any worse." She pulled a hand through her fringe, and a blue electric current snapped from the motion with a _crack_. The boys instantly stepped back a notch.

"Then I learn that some stupid underclassman has gone here all by herself to fix things up." Looking tiredly at her hand, there was a fierce _BZZT_ as a charge erupted from between her thumb and forefinger – the guys stepped back another step, and one of them turned around and ran. "And when I finally get here, not only do I find a gang of useless morons…" She gave a light sigh, and then her voice rose in volume; "I find a gang of useless morons beating up _my best friend!_" She stomped her foot, and _CRRAKK; _like a home-seeking land mine, electric currents ran over the ground and hit the boys. They roared in pain as their bodies were electrified, and the man that had ran had his escape abruptly halted as the charge caught up with him and electrified him too. Soon they were all lying on the ground in a heap, smoke steaming from their tattered clothes. Misaka-san didn't look like she'd used more energy than what was required to turn on a light switch; yet the ground was scorched and smoking, and the guys thoroughly beaten.

"Do you even have the slightest clue how mad that makes me?" She asked with an irritated flick of her head.

"H-hai…" one of the guys stuttered weakly.

Misaka-san looked in Kuroko's direction, before coming her way. Kuroko stared at her with wide eyes, her chest fluttering non-stop. She felt like she had just seen a battlecruiser fight an enemy rowboat. And furthermore… _best friend?_

Kansoku whimpered. "M-monsters…"

"Ah?" Kuroko jolted, suddenly remembering the guy was still there. She looked down at him and huffed, getting off his back. "Perhaps because _your_ ability only has one way of usage you thought that was true for everyone? Hah." She gave a dignified laugh, which was really only an effort put on to cover up her beating heart.

Misaka-san stopped just a meter from them, gazing at the squinty-eyed guy with a pitiful look. He was sweating profusely, fidgeting in his handcuffs. Tears ran down his cheeks. Mikoto huffed. "Sheesh, if you start crying it'll make me seem like a bully."

"I-I'm sorry!" Kansoku cried, smacking his forehead into the ground in a bow. His hands were still cuffed at his back and made it seem like he was a death row inmate about to be beheaded. "I should never have challenged you; I'm sorry!"

"Hmmm. Well, whatever." Mikoto sighed. "I'll just go easy on you."

"GUWAAH!" He cried out as the electricity wracked his body. Soon he joined his buddies in the land of the unconscious.

Misaka-san sighed deeply, hands on her waist. "It's too much to ask for a challenging fight, neh?"

Kuroko looked around at the scene of knocked-out delinquents and felt something like awe clench in her gut. This level five electromaster that was known as the Railgun could surely have killed them all had she wanted. Yet she didn't do more than knock them out, even in her rage; for all the threat radiated, she obviously didn't want to seriously hurt anyone.

It was… making her somewhat… dizzy?

Mikoto looked at her. "Are you okay?"

Kuroko's heart was beating painfully in her chest, and she shook her head harshly. "What's up with that huge denial?" Mikoto asked, deadpan.

Kuroko breathed deeply, having calmed down a bit. "Why are you even here?" She asked. Surely Misaka-san hadn't come to assist her? A sour taste was filling her mouth all of a sudden. If Misaka-san hadn't shown up… She gritted her teeth.

Misaka-san was observing the concrete building in front of them with interest. "According to that Asanuma Reiko, this is the place those two have been using for practicing their abilities for a while now." She said as an answer to her question. "How the heck do they get in and out of here though?"

"There might be an entrance on the other side." Kuroko said, trying to ease away her uncertainty. "And furthermore, we could have interrogated these guys had you not gone and knocked them all out cold…"

"Ah - right, they might be accomplices, huh?" Misaka-san squatted in front of Kansoku and pulled his head up by his hair. "Hey, wake up!" She slapped his cheek. The guy groaned, but made no indication to have woken up. "Honestly, I hardly even made a spark! Hey!"

Kuroko's expression was torn between exasperation and amusement; in the end, she gave a deep sigh. "Honestly…"

"Hm, seems like he's totally out. Sheesh." Mikoto huffed dejectedly. She dropped Kansoku to the ground carelessly and stood up facing the building in front of them. "Anyway, we just need to get inside and check if they're here, right? Step back a bit."

"Eh?" Kuroko stared at her hand; she'd reached into the pocket of her gym shorts and pulled out a small coin that seemed like it belonged to a game arcade. _What the heck?_ She suddenly remembered she had been carrying those things at Sunday too. _She actually steals them from game arcades? No, that's not important right now..._ "What are you…"

Misaka-san lifted her arm and aimed the coin at the wall in front of her, looking as if ready to flick it away with her thumb. Kuroko suddenly remembered the gesture Hitomi-san had made in the cafeteria that morning, and her eyes widened; _this is -!_

There was a blinding light; her hair fluttered in a hot breeze and her body felt like it was being run through by a forceful static – then a roaring _BOOOOM_ like that of a jet in the sky made her ears ring, and she clasped her hands over them. It was followed by an enormous crash and rumble, and a cloud of dust obscured her view for a few seconds. When it settled down, she was staring at a big hole in the concrete wall, while the tingling feeling slowly left her body.

_That was -!_ Kuroko stared in awe at the entrance that had been blasted in the concrete, more than big enough for the two of them. "Railgun…" She muttered. Truly, a beam of light was the only way to describe it.

"Hm?" Mikoto stopped halfway into climbing over the rubble to enter the hole, and looked back at her.

Kuroko's throat quivered. "That was…"

"Oh." Mikoto said, eying the destruction around her briefly. "You haven't seen it before? Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you or anything." She didn't seem like she was very worried at all though. Perhaps startling people was a thing she didn't particularly care taking precautions about.

Even so, Kuroko was not startled at all.

She was amazed.

Such an incredible amount of power from just firing a small metal coin; it was amazing. To Misaka-san it must have been the same as flicking away a speck of dust, yet the result was so astounding, it was hard to believe it had actually happened. Her insides were doing coils in her stomach. She had known Misaka-san to be powerful – she was level five, after all – but until now, she had not truly imagined just what it really meant, being a level five. Misaka-san had knocked out those boys so easily, used her ability with so much versatility, and she still had such an enormous amount of power left to pull out...

There was a warm, bubbly feeling swelling in her chest.

"Are you going to stand there gawking all day? I'm going on ahead." Mikoto promptly entered the facility through the hole she had created.

Kuroko suddenly snapped back to reality. "Ah – Onee-sama, wait!"

XXX

Kazari stared solemnly into the screen of her computer, the buzzing of the computers around her like vague music filling the air.

She found it hard to concentrate. Even though it was hours ago, she was still churning on the scene in the Child Error facility, and her conscience for having been so thoroughly put down by it also gnawed on her. What kind of Judgment member handled a situation like that? She sighed for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

"U-i-haaa-ru!" Ruiko's cheerful shout entered their office even before she'd opened the door; Kazari barely registered it as she stared at the computer screen in front of her in deep thought.

"Hey, this is a Judgment office, not a hang-out spot for bored students!" Konori-senpai barked from somewhere in the background; Ruiko laughingly apologized before coming over and slapping a hand onto Kazari's shoulder.

"Hey, how long are you going to stay holed up in here? Wanna come eat at Danny's with me? They have some incredibly good chocolate cakes there!"

"Chocolate cakes doesn't count as dinner." Kazari said solemnly, not even removing her gaze from the screen in front of her.

"Eeeh, says the one who ate a whole parfait right before dinner the other day…" Ruiko grinned smugly, but received no response from the flowery girl. Growing worried, she waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Hey, are you ill?"

"I'm working!" Kazari exclaimed, swapping her hand away with an irritated slap. "I told you I was going back to work, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you even cancelled our shopping date. That was hours ago though." Ruiko gazed down at her friend. "So what are you doing? Trying to figure out where that old hag took the cat?"

Kazari sighed deeply and let go of the computer mouse. "I can't find it. There are a few research institutes that works with animals, but it's impossible to know whether she'll take him to any of them or even if she knows about them…" She stared at the homepage for one of the research centers with a concerned expression. She had been so determined at finding out where Nebi – or rather Hyou-chan – would be taken, but after all this time of consistent searching, she was no closer to finding out.

"What about this here?" Ruiko asked, leaning forward suddenly to point at another screen with info about the Child Error facility they had been to. "See, according to this site they're cooperating with a research group called Usan Research – that must be it, right?" She seemed quite hyped at her discovery, but Kazari sighed again.

"Usan Research Branch V to be exact." She said. "It's a spice research facility, and they're cooperating to develop new spices that children find pleasing… it's not even a major companionship, not mentioned on any of their homepages…"

"Woah, and still you managed to find it. You've really done your job."

"I haven't found out anything; that's a list publicly available to Judgment and Anti-Skill." Kazari said, puffing her cheeks. The disappointment at not being able to reunite the cat with her owner was still burning in her whole body. Perhaps it was extra heavy on her because it was in fact her very first case assigned to her as a Judgment member.

The office phone rang.

"Uiharu, please answer that." Konori-senpai seemed deeply engaged in her work over at her own desk.

"Haai." Kazari rolled her chair backwards until it hit the counter separating her workspace from the rest of the room; on it was a shrieking wireless phone (and a lot of crumpled papers), which she picked up and answered. "Judgment 177th Branch, how may I help you?"

"This is Otonashi Shizuka of Anti-Skill," a woman's voice answered from the other end. "I am calling to deliver new directives about the case dubbed as 'the invisible robber' case."

"Oh, great!" Kazari smiled, actually forgetting about her worries for a moment. "We've been waiting for more info for ages!"

"Yes…" The voice paused slightly, then picked up: "You are hereby requested to deliver all of your research material regarding this case to us and suspend all further investigation with immediate effect."

"_WHAT?_" She shrieked so loudly Konori-senpai almost jumped out of her chair. Ruiko grimaced at the sound. "WHY?"

"I am not allowed to give you any detailed information."

"But you must tell me why!" Kazari demanded. Shirai-san and Konori-senpai had worked so hard to find what they knew; to just abandon it like that… "Does this mean you've solved it? Did you find the robber?"

"We have received instructions that a research facility will cover the remains of the investigation. That is all I know, I'm sorry." Somehow, she didn't sound sorry at all.

"That's not fair!" Kazari cried. "We've used so much time investigating – you can't just make us give up!"

"W-what?" Konori-senpai was slightly pale. "What's going on, Uiharu?"

Kazari determinedly brought the phone away from her ear and pushed the speaker button; next, the Anti-Skill officer's voice could be heard by everyone in the room.

"This isn't about being fair or not. The higher-ups have commanded us to give the case to the research facility. Not even Anti-Skill will be investigating anymore. I am merely following orders."

"Then which research facility is it?" Kazari asked. "I'll call them myself and ask to have the case back! Or offer our help…" She felt slightly unsure; she didn't know whether that was even possible according to protocol. Konori-senpai was nodding fiercely though.

"Honestly," the Anti-Skill lady sighed. "If you really want to try, go ahead. Though I'm not sure how you would go ahead to convince a large research facility of something like that. They must have some incredible interest in this case to go to such lengths."

"Just tell me the name of the facility and I'll handle the rest!" Kazari said.

"Fine, just as long as you follow my instructions." The Anti-Skill woman sighed. "It's a fairly big research group with a lot of branches all over the city. Ever heard about Usan Research?"

* * *

Note:

I could write a lot about this chapter.

…

…

…

…I hope you liked it? *is knocked over the head by a bat*

I swear, Kuroko… will… have… *faints*

Words and terms:

_Gurasudo _= Glassdoor. In Japanese, using katakana. Basically, it's English converted into Japanese and then written out with the Western alphabet.

_Kansoku_ (緩速) = slow speed

...

**Next time: ***Is fainted*


	17. Chapter 17: Instincts

**Chapter 17: Instincts**

The inside of the production hall was dusty and dark, save for the daylight seeping in from the windows high above them and from the hole behind them. The room they'd entered was two floors high and probably the size of a football field; it was filled with machineries hanging from the roof and stacks and stacks of metal boxes lined up against the walls and on the floor. Pieces of glass were stashed at seemingly random locations throughout the room; it all carried the air of an unused building. Or it did until a blast of electricity travelled through here just moments ago, throwing everything along its path to all sides and stirring up a decade worth of dust.

"It smells..." Kuroko said, wrinkling her nose; it was the smell of an enclosed, unaired room that could not have been used for quite some time.

"This place used to make bulletproof glass for Anti-Skill vehicles and the like, until another company came up with a more profitable way of producing it, and they went bankrupt." Mikoto informed her, hands on her waist as she stood right in the open and gazed around.

Kuroko gazed at her critically. "How do you even…"

"Ah, you see, there's this thing called internet." Mikoto said cheerfully. "It's amazing what kind of info you can get there."

Kuroko felt a stab in her chest, yet, she'd asked for it. She tsk'ed and averted her eyes from the other girl to gaze around the room.

"In any case, it looks deserted now." Misaka-san continued.

"There's no way they didn't hear your _knock_ back there," Kuroko said dryly, even though she was still amazed at what she had seen (her ears were ringing slightly too), "if they were here at all, they would have already left." She looked back at the upperclassman, trying not to imagine the display of power she'd seen just a few minutes ago. This forced 'do-not-think-about-it' expression resulted in her face feeling awfully strained.

"Well, they'd have to be pretty stupid to choose a hideout someone knows about anyway." Mikoto said, stretching her arms upwards all of a sudden. Kuroko immediately looked another way lest she suffer a heart attack. Oblivious to this, the second-year continued: "Still, it would also be stupid of us _not _to check this place. And it's easier than trying to look for some unidentified invisible stalker."

"A stalker…?" Kuroko frowned, trying to concentrate; Asanuma-san had been talking about that, hadn't she?

"Yeah, apparently there's someone who's been giving Asanuma-san stuff for a few weeks now – jewelries, make-up, things like that. And notes saying how he loves her and wants her to be student council president." Mikoto continued to stretch her arms and fingers while she talked. Dressed in her gym attire, she looked like she was stretching out before a run. "However, she said it seemed weird; it looked like those things she received was not recently purchased, or rather, like it was already being used by someone else. As if…" She paused, looking thoughtful.

Kuroko's eyes widened. "As if it had been stolen from someone else and then sent to her…?"

"Hm, yes." Mikoto said, turning around and looking at her. "You know those robberies where some invisible guy is stealing bags and purses from middle school girls? She reckons it's the same guy, and that he's been sending his goods to her. Man, what a creep." She scowled.

Kuroko suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. The bus accident… that man in the road – the stalker, that robber – it might be the same man! It made perfect sense, and yet, was just too incredible to be true.

"It's disturbing how simple human minds can be." Mikoto said, hands on her waist again. "Those stalker types suddenly sees a person they like, and thinks they're in love – then they do everything in their might to get their attention, even breaking the law..." She gave an exasperated sigh. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added: "In Asanuma-san's case though, I guess her ability might have had something to do with it as well."

"What?" Kuroko's perplexed word left her mouth before she could stop it, what with Misaka-san's utterance suddenly breaking through her cluttering thoughts.

Mikoto turned to give her a somewhat surprised look. "Well… _Attraction_. It's a level three ability that makes anyone who looks at her feel some sort of undefined attraction, apparently. Though I guess it must have varying effects on people on that stage, and it's most likely restricted in more ways too." She looked back into the room, putting one thoughtful hand on her chin. "Perhaps she used it outside somewhere in District 7 and the stalker happened to see her…"

"How do you even know something like that?" Kuroko asked, feeling slightly panicky now that there seemed to be one thing after the other she hadn't known or thought about.

"I don't know for sure, I'm just thinking out loud."

"Not – I meant her – about the ability!" Kuroko barked.

"Ah, that." Mikoto seemed perfectly unfazed by Kuroko's stumbling words. "Hitomi-san told me on the way to lunch the other day. She was complaining about how unfair it is for Asanuma-san to use her ability to gain popularity before the election." She looked at Kuroko again. "I thought for sure she'd told you too?"

"Kh –" Kuroko gritted her teeth. She hadn't heard anything like that. In fact, Kuroko had barely talked to Hitomi-san about Asanuma-san or the election at all. There had been so many other things going on! Perhaps if she'd been more into it, asking more questions, she'd have been able to foresee this coming, and stop it before it got this far… and if Misaka-san hadn't showed up when she did… her gut clenched, and her shoulders tensed. _How come I can't do anything right? _

"Oh –" Mikoto suddenly said, and one moment later, a phone started ringing in the silence around them. Kuroko recognized the tone, and confusion replaced her growing self-hatred; it was still back at school, in her bag… Misaka-san put a hand in her gym shorts pocket, pulled out a tiny, white phone and put it to her ear. "Yes, this is Kuroko's phone."

Kuroko gaped in horror.

"Aaah, no, haha!" Mikoto laughed jovially. "I'm Misaka Mikoto, a schoolmate of hers. Here, I'll give you her now." She turned and held out the phone to Kuroko, smiling at her. "It's for you."

"Of course it's for me, it's _my _phone!" Kuroko shrieked, snatching it away from her hand with a fierce lash. "Don't steal other people's belongings!"

"Why are you so upset?" Mikoto sighed. "When I went to grab my coins I noticed it lying on your bag, so I brought it along. Is it too much to say thanks for a simple favor?"

_It's not a favor, it's - ! _Kuroko was unable to find the right words and stared at the phone in her hand; she could feel the warmth of Misaka-san's touch lingering still… _no, that's impossible. Right?_ She swallowed and put the phone to her ear. "Yes?"

"Shirai-san!" Uiharu's voice erupted from the other end. "Are you really out with _Misaka Mikoto_?"

Kuroko glanced at her upperclassman, who began making her way further into the room. "Hai…" For some reason, her cheeks were heating up despite her unhappy expression.

There was a loud screech – she held the phone away from her ear for a moment until it ended. "I really – I really _talked _to Misaka-sama!" Uiharu bellowed. "I _talked_ with the Railgun!" Seems like she knew who Misaka-san was. She was breathing heavily, and someone made a dry comment in the background. "But she's the ultimate ojou-sama!" Uiharu said, and even though it went straight into Kuroko's ears, it was probably not directed at her. "She's just a year older than us, and yet she's a level five, and an ojou-sama too!"

Kuroko snorted, yet couldn't seem to get rid of that feeling of awe lingering in her chest. She gritted her teeth. "Never mind that! Why did you call me in the first place?"

"I can't believe it, Misaka Mikoto!" Uiharu was still not done. "I heard her voice! And she's even held your cell phone – oh, I'm jealous!"

Kuroko's breath hitched. _This phone… in her pocket… _Her nose was itching all of a sudden. Clamping her free hand over it, she barked into the phone: "What did you call me for, Uiharu?"

"Oh, right!" It seems like in her thrilled state, she'd forgotten. "Well, I just talked with Anti-Skill… It seems like this science group called Usan Research wants to take over the case with the invisible robber, and Anti-Skill has ordered us to stop all investigation."

"What?" Kuroko's eyes grew wide.

"Konori-senpai is trying to find out what's going on, but it seems like nobody has an answer."

"That's insane!" Kuroko exclaimed. "We've been working so hard, and–" _WHAM!_ She stumbled forward as something hard hit her in the head – sight blackening for a second and pain erupting from the back of her head, her phone dropped to the floor and she fell to her hands and knees.

"Wha – Kuroko?" Mikoto turned around at the sounds, and the next instant there was a _godong! _sound as something hit the wall; through the haze in her mind Kuroko perceived a metal bat having been thrown at Misaka-san, though the other girl easily deflected it, before firing a streak of lightning over Kuroko's head. There was no sound of anyone being hit, though there were sounds of footsteps running.

Kuroko fought to see clearly again, but the pain in her head was too much – she felt nauseous. Her head was spinning, and there were black spots in front of her eyes.

"Shirai-san! Shirai-san, are you there? What happened?" Uiharu was calling from the phone on the floor. Kuroko reached out a hand to grab the device, but her sight was fading, her head bursting with pain –

"…roko! Kuroko!"

Someone shook her shoulder and called her name, and she groaned; it felt like she hadn't slept at all. Why was Sumone-san even bothering to wake her up? She opened her eyes groggily, and a heavy headache of other dimensions crashed against her.

"Are you alright?" But the voice that spoke to her wasn't Sumone-san's. Was that… Misaka-san? Suddenly realizing where she was, her eyes shot open and she sat up, causing an immediate swirl in her head, and a sharp throbbing pain spread from the back of her scalp. Misaka-san was kneeling in front of her, worriedly studying her face.

"What – happened?" Kuroko asked groggily, keeping a hand to her head and supporting herself to the floor with the other. They were still inside the production hall, and the late afternoon sun still flittered through the giant hole in the wall. Not much time had passed.

"You were knocked out by that metal bat." Mikoto said. She still had one hand on her shoulder, as if afraid she'd collapse without the support. "Are you really okay? It seemed like a hard hit…"

"Ah, my head hurts, but I seem to be okay." She forced a smile onto her face and tried to ignore the painful throb in her head. She looked around and noticed her phone lying just about at the spot she'd dropped it; leaning forward, she picked it up. The screen was blank. _Did the power go out? Tch. _It had only been three weeks since she charged it too.

"I'm sorry," Mikoto suddenly said, "I should have…" Her sentence died down. Her gaze was lowered slightly; her hand was warm against Kuroko's shoulder, and she felt her chest constrict. _Sorry?_ Did she regard it as her responsibility that Kuroko was hurt? It somehow both warmed her and annoyed her.

"There is no need to worry," she said importantly, before carefully working her way to her knees. Misaka-san removed her hand from her shoulder, saying: "Ah – are you sure you should stand up so quickly?"

"Such a small blow won't keep me down." Kuroko heroically stood up, and didn't even sway, though her sight was swimming. "I should not have dropped my guard so carelessly. Speaking of which, where did the culprit go?" Dust had been disturbed into floating through the air, and several containers lay in disarray, as if someone had carelessly thrown them around. However she could see no charred body anywhere.

Mikoto gave a displeased sigh through her nose as she stood up as well, looking at the mess. "Whoever it was, they never approached to attack on their own, and just ran off behind all these boxes. They must have used another exit somewhere. In any case, I couldn't see them, but I picked up a strange sensation while he was here. It could really be wavelength manipulation after all."

"You could sense him? Then how come you couldn't finish him off?" Kuroko huffed in a dry voice; she was feeling grouchy, and she couldn't help it.

"Don't make it sound like I _let_ him escape." Mikoto huffed. "I was surprised, and he was running around behind those crates. Even if I _did _know his approximate spot, he vanished before I could even think straight!" She was fairly red-cheeked despite her defensive arguments.

"Hmf." Kuroko gazed into the room again, feeling begrudged that she had passed out. "He must have realized there was no way he could beat the ace of Tokiwadai."

XXX

After scouring the entire building without finding any trace of Hitomi-san or her kidnappers, they concluded they probably never were here to begin with, and went outside to question the gang of boys that seemed to have been possible accomplices. However as they exited through the hole in the wall, only an empty plot of asphalt greeted their eyes. They guys were gone.

"Aah, well I guess assuming they'd just wait around for us to show up again would be kind of conceited…" Misaka-san muttered.

Kuroko huffed, hands on her waist. They'd even ran off with her handcuffs. "How long will Anti-Skill take to arrive here anyway?" She wondered, looking in the direction of the main road and seeing nothing.

Misaka-san, who had advanced down the rubble to stand on the ground below, turned towards her. "Anti-Skill?"

…Kuroko felt her mind start to boil, which in turn made the throbbing in her head even more fierce. Carefully staring at the ground rather than the other girl, lest her head crack open, she asked: "You _did _call Anti-Skill, right?"

"…Eh? No, I came right here after depositing Asanuma-san at the infirmary."

Kuroko looked up and snapped at her after all. "What made you think it was a good idea to storm off here without telling anyone!"

"You did the exact same thing, didn't you?" Misaka-san huffed.

"I am a Judgment member!" Kuroko explained, but Misaka-san merely sighed, obviously failing to see the importance of this fact, which only made her annoyance level rise even more.

"In any case, one of the employees at school has most likely contacted Anti-Skill." The second-year said, gazing in the direction of the main highway as well. "I guess they will figure things out."

Kuroko hid her frown and looked another way. "Of course they will." She said.

XXX

And so, they made their way back to Tokiwadai to retrieve their things.

Walking through the still corridors of their school, the silence seemed pressing around them. It was almost curfew, and the afternoon had turned into a slightly chilly evening. The school seemed eerily empty too.

"I can only assume they must have anticipated someone to show up at that place, and they planted an accomplice there to take care of them." Kuroko was sharing her thoughts as they walked through the silent school, an hour after the whole ordeal at the fabric. "Or perhaps the chameleon has been using that fabric as his hide-out the whole time, and those Polar Bears were his accomplices to keep anyone from discovering him?" They had stopped on the way to buy themselves something to eat (and even though it was Misaka-san's idea, the second-year suddenly realized she hadn't brought her wallet, and so Kuroko was forced to pull out her emergency credit card).

She did not receive any response to her theory. Misaka-san had seemed deep in thought the whole way back on the bus, and only asked Kuroko once or twice if her head was any better – Kuroko insisted she was fine of course, even if there still was a sharp throbbing in the back of her head. Her ability to keep functioning even when hurt had saved her hide before, and though it might not be a life-threatening situation this time, she wasn't about to show any signs of weakness in front of Misaka-san.

She kept up with the pace of the taller girl as they walked down the hall, though was always a step behind; the mood seemed pressing.

"However I'm sure Onee-sama managed to scare him off, and if he runs back and tells them the Railgun herself is after their hinds, surely they will lose confidence and simply give up." She tried to laugh heartily, but it sounded rather forced – and then she suddenly bumped into Misaka-san's back, as the other girl had stopped abruptly in the corridor.

Her head gave a sharp stab at the sudden collision, and, feeling slightly nervous, Kuroko hurried to add: "Although by no means should we take this matter lightly! The fact is Hitomi-san is still missing and…" Her voice died down as she realized Misaka-san wasn't paying her any attention at all. She turned her head to look in the same direction as the upperclassman, and her eyes widened. Two doors down the corridor to their right was the infirmary, and the door was open. Four men and a woman was standing in the corridor, exchanging words with a nurse, and they were all wearing long, white coats.

"Scientists… or doctors?" Kuroko muttered, not entirely sure which.

They were too far away to hear their words properly, but their tone of voice was calm, as if they were quietly discussing a mildly interesting topic. As they stood there following the exchange, Kuroko felt more and more dizzy; she put a hand to her head to stop the nauseating feeling.

She barely noticed the woman catching their presence, or that she was approaching them, before she was right in front of them.

"Hello, you are students of this school, right?" She asked, smiling kindly. Her long, black hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and her lips were decorated with an eye-catching red lip gloss. She was tall, and her bust otherworldly. She looked like she would belong in a beauty shop, and not in a coat like the one she was wearing.

"Ah, hai…" Kuroko said slowly, still feeling less than perfect, but at least her head had stopped spinning for now. Not knowing what more to say really, she glanced at Misaka-san; her face seemed closed off and expressionless, meeting the gaze of the woman head on.

"Ah –" the woman said, looking at Mikoto too, her eyes widening, "you… you are Tokiwadai's Railgun, are you not?"

Kuroko was surprised she knew; wondering at first if they were acquaintances, but then realized most likely all scientists and doctors of Academy City knew the faces of the city's level five's; there were only seven of them, after all.

Misaka-san continued to stare at her, and then… "Hai!" A beaming smile suddenly appeared on her face, and Kuroko almost fell over – what was with the sudden change in mood?

"You guys are staying behind at school quite late; club activities?" The woman asked kindly, eyes gleaming briefly.

"Ah, no, actually, we had detention." Mikoto said, laughing awkwardly.

"Oh really? Even Tokiwadai's ace, huh?" The woman smiled humorously, chuckling as well.

"Haha, yeah… um… did something happen?" Mikoto asked, while Kuroko looked past the woman at the other people who had by now stopped discussing with the nurse, and were talking amongst themselves instead. The door to the infirmary was closed; she wondered whether they had been in there.

The lady barely glanced backwards. "Oh, only a small accident; it seems a student lost control of her ability for a moment and injured herself. Me and my assistants were called over to do some measurements."

Something rang weird with these words; though Kuroko didn't know how many students were in the infirmary at this time of course, and there was no reason to think she was talking about Asanuma-san. In any case, her predicament was by no means self-inflicted.

Misaka-san didn't seem to notice. "Oh, that sounds serious." She said solemnly. "So are you specializing in the control of abilities or something?"

The woman smiled again. "I guess you could say that. The brains of you young students are most marvelous. We have a close partnership with one of the factions in your school, in fact."

"Ah, really…" Mikoto said, and Kuroko mentally frowned, but tried to keep a nonchalant look on her face. Obviously, this woman was not even interested in talking with her; she seemed quite delighted at having gotten a hold of Misaka-san. Still, she didn't want to attract her attention by looking too displeased.

"In fact, I have read a lot about you and your ability." The woman said kindly, scanning Misaka-san from top to bottom with a badly hidden voracious glee in her eyes. "There are many electromasters in this city, but none quite as powerful as you. Yours is a very versatile ability, very valuable to a lot of projects…" Her eyes glinted.

"Aah, that's not… haha…" Mikoto laughed, rubbing her neck awkwardly.

_Staring at Onee-sama like that!_ Kuroko was suddenly fuming in silence, and then realized what she had just thought, and her head started spinning again.

The woman continued to smile. "I know you're not currently working with any research groups, but if you ever change your mind and want some help to find ways to improve even more…" She reached into her inner pocket and pulled out a card. "…don't hesitate to contact me, okay?" She blinked, giggled shortly, and Misaka-san hesitated only slightly before accepting the offered card.

"Yeah… thanks." She smiled again, and the woman blinked again, before turning around and heading back to her colleagues.

"Ah –" Kuroko jolted out of her thoughts, having finally processed what just happened. She looked after the woman and her fellow scientists until they rounded a corner further down the corridor and disappeared from sight. Then she frowned. "Well, that was a peculiar woman."

Mikoto didn't answer, gazing thoughtfully at the card in her hand. Kuroko leaned over to look as well. A whiff of Misaka-san's fragrance tickled her nose all of a sudden, making her dizzy. _She does smell nice – even after pulling weeds for three hours… Aaah, now's not the time for this! _She forced herself to concentrate and stared at the card. It was a plain normal business card, complete with a name and a phone number.

"_Usan Research, Branch V_." She read aloud. "Sounds like a genuine research group." She put a hand on her waist, frowning. "Honestly, just handing out her card like that… does she expect you to just give her a call?"

Misaka-san was gazing at the card still, her eyes shining with determination.

_Wait, Usan Research…? _Something tickled in the back of her mind together with the dull pain. Had she heard that name before?

XXX

They asked the nurse inside the infirmary about Asanuma-san, and the woman told them she was sleeping and no visitors were allowed to see her. When Kuroko insisted, pulling out her title as a Judgment member, the woman hit her upside the head with a magazine from the waiting table and told her to bring her complaints to the school board. This mere slap almost caused her to pass out again; if not for Misaka-san grabbing her arm she might have met the floor face first.

"In that case, please give this idiot something for her head." Mikoto asked, showing Kuroko forwards, and Kuroko had no time to be surprised – the nurse gleefully jumped to the task and forcefully fed her three different pain relievers and a liter of water.

"You'll be just fine tomorrow morning, and if not, make sure you come back here first thing." She cheerfully smiled at them, before showing them out the door and closing it behind them, though not before reminding them that they should hurry back to their dorm before curfew.

XXX

Kuroko had trouble sleeping that night. Her head was still throbbing lightly; while Academy City's patented pain relievers worked wonders, the effect was wearing off now. That was not the reason she lay awake in her bed though. She just had so much to think about.

Lying on her back, with her phone lighting up her face, she had just checked the info Uiharu sent her about the bus accident (being only that there was no info at all), and was now searching the net feverishly for something she couldn't quite clearly say what was. At the moment she was not even paying attention to what popped up at the screen, being too busy thinking.

All the way back to their dormitory Misaka-san had been unusually cheerful, as if she'd already forgotten what had transpired that day. It had annoyed Kuroko, as she couldn't seem to get a grasp on the other girl at all. When they parted ways inside the dorm (with the dorm mistress sternly tapping her foot as the clock was dangerously nearing 9PM), the other girl had smiled and cheerfully bid her good night, apparently not even noticing the frown on Kuroko's face.

Now she couldn't help but wonder. That invisible robber, the bus accident with the man in the road, and the kidnapping of Hitomi-san – if they assumed the man was the same, could the cases too be linked together? She would have asked Sumone-san about the accident had she thought her roommate would even talk to her; but the sour girl had already been asleep when she returned to the dorm, and besides, the chances she even saw the man was very slim. Even if she did, though, Kuroko had not seen the attacker that gave her that blow to her head today, and would not know whether it was the same man based on that.

In any case, if it really was the same man, there was a strong implication that his motives were in fact to draw Asanuma-san's attention. Stealing things from middle school girls and sending it to her, it could indeed be the logic of an unstable mind. But the kidnapping of Hitomi-san didn't fit into this. And he hadn't been alone, in any case. Asanuma-san had definitively said Unabara-san and Fasu-san were in on it as well. This was, of course, assuming Asanuma-san told the truth; though with her situation being what it was, it seemed unlikely for her to be lying. So, did those two use this man's stalking obsession to have him help them kidnap Hitomi-san? But how, and most importantly, why? _They said she would definitively be re-elected when Hitomi-san was gone… is that really it? _She frowned at the shining screen of her cell phone._  
_

Judging from Asanuma-san's own words when she found her in the bathroom, Unabara-san and Fasu-san had not anticipated her to be in there. Trapping her in the toilet was probably not part of their original plan. Leaving her behind to be found - well, most likely they couldn't bring her with them. And so, knowing that Asanuma-san knew about their usual hang-out spot, they ensured someone else to be there to take any pursuers out – yet they could not have anticipated the Railgun to show up, of all people.

The Railgun … Kuroko's heart suddenly started beating much faster, as she once again envisioned that amazing beam of light. If Unabara-san and Fasu-san realized Misaka-san was after them as well, surely they'd give themselves up… but, what was the level five's role in this either way? She apparently cared enough to take the trouble and show up at that fabric, yet she'd acted so carefree afterwards – was it all just a means of killing boredom to the other girl? She frowned again. That did not feel right. A few days ago she might have thought so, but after today… And she had studied that business card with such a solemn face…

_Usan Research Branch V_… At the very least, Usan Research and the invisible robber definitively had some kind of link. She remembered now, what Uiharu had said – that Usan Research would be taking over the investigation. While she had been shocked initially, she had now calmed enough to think about it from a logical point of view. For Usan Research to want to take over the case, they must have something to do with that invisible man. If one concluded that the robber and the man in the road was the same person, there was no doubt he was that stalker Asanuma-san had talked about too. And together with him, Unabara-san and Fasu-san was involved in the kidnapping. Did that mean Usan Research investigated the kidnapping too? Did they know it was the same man? Had they been present at Tokiwadai to investigate?

She sighed deeply. No matter how much she thought about this, she wouldn't be able to figure it out tonight. She gazed at the holographic screen of her phone tiredly, and randomly touched one of the ads on the website she had just entered. It opened to a webshop, and she gazed at the front page and the products featured there with a bored expression on her face. Then her eyes suddenly widened, staring at one of the products. _That's just what I…_

In fact, there was another thing that kept bugging her beside the entire maze of questions surrounding the kidnapping. This thing being the fact that, even though she was a Judgment member and a level four esper, she had suffered complete defeat in not only one, but two confrontations today. If Misaka-san hadn't shown up, things would have gone much worse.

And that was not how it was supposed to be. Kuroko was proud of her skills, proud of her ability, and proud of her status as a Judgment member. To have a civilian step in and save her – no matter who that civilian was – was not to be accepted. Which is why she needed to do something about it. To make sure she would not be hindered again, to avoid having her opponents escape or come too close for comfort. To enable her to be able to assist Anti-Skill properly or stand her own ground in a hard fight.

Her eyes stared at the ad in front of her face, and she knew she had found what she was looking for. As she saved the site to the phone's internal memory and put it aside, Hitomi-san's smiling face flashed across her internal eye.

_Hitomi-san…_ The thought of where the older girl was now and what had happened to her was heavy on her mind; she turned over, trying to think about something else. What popped into her head instead, like several times during this evening, was the moment when Misaka-san fired that incredible beam of light – the railgun that had blasted open her mind and left a deep impression in her heart.

* * *

Note:

Ooh, my head is hurting… This part of the story is so complicated… Would you believe me if I told you I have three different variations of this very same chapter? (Please don't, it's a lie.) I really hope I've managed to keep my tongue… err… fingers… straight… as I typed…? God it would be so much easier without a plot...

**Next time: ***trying to find a line that I'm pretty sure will stay unchanged till next chapter is posted… oh, here's one:* _RRRIIIIIING!_

_To Lady Poison Dreams (since I can't write you an answer through PM): _Thanks a lot for your feedback, it is appreciated as always! =) As for your question regarding Kuroko; as far as I know, little is said about her pre-Tokiwadai days except what we get to know in episode 5 of Railgun. Here she says she hasn't yet learned to teleport herself, so I guessed her to be level three at that point. Considering that she might have entered Academy City several years before this, I found it plausible for her to have started out as a level two. In other words, what Kuroko tells Mikoto back in chapter 15 is me making things up. (Of course, she might have started as level one too - but I found her saying "Oh yeah? Well I was level one too!" to be... not as good. Or maybe it would have been. I dunno.)

Now, since I am on a roll, allow me to say something else: You guys are writing some amazing reviews! And with that I don't mean that you're merely praising the story (which is very nice of course), but you're actually sharing your exact thoughts on the small things that happen – stuff that have been painfully carefully spelled out – I'm so happy to read you actually notice them and react the way I wanted (or sometimes in ways I hadn't expected at all). An author couldn't ask for more! Basically, they are excellent reviews! Even if they're only a line, or several pages long – I love to read them! (Does this count as a review of reviews? … keep it up, guys! Don't stop reviewing! I wish you'd post your reviews much faster! Aaah please don't abandon your review before it's complete! The plot in this review seems rather lacking... (Sorry, I couldn't resist. My humor may not make much sense in written form, but… well actually, I hope it does, to a certain extent. Now I'll just stop rambling and post this chapter.))


	18. Chapter 18: Just Another Day

**Chapter 18: Just Another Day**

It felt unreal to go to school the next day. Even though the weather was fine, the girls in her class as twittering as always, and with Sumone-san enjoying the attention from several worried classmates as she humped in on crutches, Kuroko found it hard to feel attached to anything around her. She was worried. The insecurity of not knowing what had happened to Hitomi-san was horrible; it gnawed on her mind constantly. Not having anyone to share her breakfast time with after growing so accustomed to it was strange as well (Misaka-san being nowhere in sight and Sumone-san _out of the question_), and only served to deepen the impression that something was indeed wrong.

Nobody talked about it. That was perhaps the one thing that made it all seem so deeply serious. She heard no whispering, no gossip or excited rumors of what had happened here in this very building after school yesterday. No-one talked about how Hitomi-san was missing. No-one mentioned how Asanuma-san had been found gagged and trapped in a toilet. No-one seemed to know that two student council members were not present at school.

It was all canned up, obviously. The school board would not want something like this to leak out; if it did, it would spell disaster for Tokiwadai. Those few who knew anything had been warned. She knew, because she was one of those few.

Before homeroom even started, Hiraga-sensei approached her in the classroom.

"You are required at the principal's office." His voice was low, as if it was to be a secret between the two of them, and he dutifully looked after her until she exited the room. Wondering what this could be about, and yet having a strong suspicion as to what it was, Kuroko found herself automatically headed for the office in question.

The principal's office lay in the same wing as the infirmary, but in another corridor. Its doors were grand and made of solid oak, decorated with intricate twirls and swirls, probably the result of some artist having a go at the wood. If anything, it looked like the entrance doors of a medieval castle.

Kuroko stopped just outside and wondered if she should knock, wait or just walk right in. Just as she opted for the first choice, one of the doors opened in front of her, and a familiar person exited the room.

"Onee-sama!" Though she shouldn't really be surprised, she was anyway.

"Hm?" Mikoto looked up at her. "Oh, Kuroko. You were called here too?"

"What is this about? Is it…" she hesitated for a moment, already knowing what it was; and the other girl seemed to understand either way.

"Aah," she said, closing the door behind her with a sigh. "Just what you'd expect; keep quiet, don't worry, and 'oh, I am _so _sorry you had to experience something like this, Mikoto-chan, please don't quit our school', you know…" Even though her words might have a humoristic rang to them as she imitated the people inside, she still seemed annoyed. Sighing deeply, back hunched as if the air had run out of her, she turned away from the younger student, lifting one hand in a wave. "I'm going back to class – have fun in there."

And she walked off. Kuroko gazed at her back for a few seconds before turning her attention to the doors in front of her. Raising her hand, she knocked firmly on the wood.

It opened at once. "Shirai-san?" A female staff member poked her head out and looked at her squarely; Kuroko met her stare levelly. "Please come in." The door was opened wider, and Kuroko stepped inside. The first thing that hit her was the glaringly yellow carpet in the middle of the floor; it pulled at her sight in a merciless fashion, as if placed there to hypnotize any visitors.

"Ah, Kuroko-chan." The principal, as regal as always, boomed from his spot behind a huge desk. _Chan? _Kuroko thought through the yellow swirl in her head.

It was mostly like Misaka-san had said. The principal (flanked by two advisors and the female staff member in the back) told her how sorry he was that she'd had to experience such a thing at their school, asked her to not talk too much about it as not to startle the other students, and not to worry; Anti-Skill were going to find Hitomi-san and bring her back.

It sounded like a speech that had been practiced carefully all morning.

"How can you expect me to rest easy with you saying this, knowing it is your own niece who has kidnapped her?" Kuroko said critically, not even minding the shocked gasps from the other adults.

The principal looked at her for a few seconds, an impenetrable solemn look in his eyes. Then he sighed. "Ryoko-chan has had… a lot to deal with." He said at last. "Though she may be my niece, she is not my responsibility as a child. I am the principal of Tokiwadai before I am her uncle. I assure you, no matter who the culprits might be, they will be dealt with accordingly."

Kuroko stared at him for a few more seconds. Surely they hadn't known about any of this? Asking the students to move about in groups must have been a logical course of action after what happened with the bus yesterday. And still, it failed so miserably.

She gave a proud sniff and turned her head away. "I guess I will have to trust you on this. Though I assure you, if there is the slightest possibility that this case is being handled differently because of those involved, my parents will certainly hear of it."

The principal's eyes glinted, and there was a twitch in his mustache; one of the advisors said desperately: "Please, Shirai-san, we assure you -!"

Though telling your parents might seem like an empty threat, one must remember this was Academy City, and Tokiwadai middle school at that. The parents of the girls attending this school usually had quite an influence, and if any of them found reason to distrust the security of their child, it might have dire consequences for the school.

"We shall see!" She turned around haughtily and marched to the door, prepared to leave this stuffed room and go back to the real world. The female staff member standing beside it seemed to have grown rock solid in horror. Whether it was because of Kuroko's threat of telling her parents or because of the way she had addressed the principal in the first place was anyone's guess.

Just as her hand was about to touch the handle, the principal said: "You are quite close to Mikoto-chan, are you not?"

Kuroko tensed, and did not turn around as she spoke. "Mikoto…_chan_?" Her jaw shivered slightly. _Me, close to her? Onee-sama and me, close? _Her mind was spinning in circles. _She did address me as her best friend… but that was in the heat of battle, and… more importantly – I should be the only one with the privilege to call her that! _This goal suddenly flared to life like a burning flame in her mind.

The principal cleared his throat. "Misaka Mikoto. The Railgun."

"Hai, I know who you mean…" She turned halfway, watching him from the side and stomping away her unimportant thoughts. Why would he bring this up now?

The middle-aged man was smiling. "I might be asking too much, but… Do you mind trying to talk her out of doing anything recklessly? She seemed quite… determined regarding this case."

'_Recklessly'?_ Kuroko frowned. _Are they suspecting she'll go after them?_

She gazed at him solemnly. "I do not know her that well, and if she really wants to do something, I would have no means of stopping her." Of that, there was no doubt.

The principal sighed deeply. "I was afraid you'd say that. Misaka-san has quite the fierce sense of justice. She might seem cold and aloof on the outside, but her heart burns with the desire to help and protect others."

"I guess so…" Remembering how the other girl had shown up at the fabric yesterday for seemingly no other reason than to help Hitomi-san, Kuroko found it hard to disagree.

He puffed his chest proudly. "I have the ability to see the true heart of all young girls – that is why I do such an excellent job as a principal in this school! Hahaha!" He laughed heartily.

Kuroko sweat-dropped at his conceited announcement, wondering if he was trying to be funny.

The principal gave a strict nod. "It is better to leave these kind of things to Anti-Skill, after all."

Kuroko gazed at him solemnly, before turning back to the door.

"Oh, by the way," the man said, once again interrupting her leave, "Reiko-chan wanted to see you. She is still in the infirmary, it would be great if you were to drop by on your way to class. And no worries; your teacher has been notified."

_So now I have no choice?_ Kuroko frowned once outside in the hallway again, feeling more confused now than when she entered. Her initial worry that the school board wouldn't do anything had been calmed, at least; the principal might be a bit… _queer_ (could he be the one that designed the shower stalls?), but he seemed like an honorable man. Most likely, he simply wished for his students to keep out of danger. Of course, even if he had wanted he couldn't very well ask them to solve this problem for him.

_Leave it to Anti-Skill, eh…_

XXX

Like everything else in Tokiwadai, the infirmary too was extravagant. Kuroko had only been here twice before; once during their touring of the school last Monday, and once yesterday, when she was treated for her throbbing head. With three nurses and a doctor as well as equipment worthy the envy of any hospital, all of the girls at Tokiwadai was ensured the best possible treatment. It was also excellent conditions for students with different variations of healing abilities to work on improving themselves. During the guide tour, Hitomi-san had told them how they sometimes had excursions to different facilities, providing care and treatment to ill and injured patients in all parts of the city.

Wondering if even the infirmary was part of a faction in school, Kuroko entered the light, cozy facility. It was not just one room with a few beds like in elementary; it was a whole section of rooms, divided from the main room by thick curtains, and a fully furnished waiting area complete with the latest magazines popular with girls (one of which had had an unpleasant meeting with her head last night). At the moment, there seemed to be no students here.

The nurse behind the reception desk at the front smiled kindly at her as she approached. "Have you hit your head again?" For some reason, she held a huge syringe in her hand.

Kuroko sweat-dropped. "Ah, no… I was told Asanuma-san wanted to see me?"

"Ah, yes – please follow me." The nurse smiled brilliantly and showed her way to one of the private rooms. Though calling it a room was an exaggeration, those thick, white curtains did create the illusion of private space, and even sound was gently muffled once behind it.

"I'll leave you two alone," the nurse smiled, and closed the curtain behind Kuroko. It wasn't dark in there; there was a window beside the bed (since it was on the second floor, no-one could see inside), and there was a lamp over the bed. Asanuma-san was lying on the bed reading a book. She was wearing small glasses on her nose, and for a second, Kuroko thought of Hitomi-san. She quickly shook her head though; they were nothing alike at all.

The black-haired girl looked up at Kuroko, glaring at her from above her glasses. Why the girl was still here was also a mystery; she hadn't seemed to be badly injured yesterday, merely shook up. Though the delicate mind of a self-proclaimed ojou-sama was probably something not to be messed with. Perhaps she had become severely traumatized.

"I was told you wanted to see me." Kuroko said, not wanting to give the impression of having come here out of sympathy or worry.

"Yes, that's true." Asanuma-san sighed almost haughtily, picking the glasses off her nose and folding them on the night table, and then shutting the book and placing it beside them. Kuroko stared at her all the time, and the other girl glared back when she was finished.

This went on for about ten seconds.

"You are really weird." Asanuma-san said at last.

Kuroko fumed at once. "What the – did you ask me here merely to insult me?"

"I did not mean it as an insult." Asanuma-san huffed, chin raised proudly. "I was merely pointing out the fact that you would run off and try to help me, a stranger, after finding me – like that." Her cheeks flushed slightly.

_Who the heck says something like that without meaning it as an insult? _"I did not do it for you," Kuroko said levelly, reigning in her annoyance, "it was for Hitomi-san alone." Even though they hadn't found her; obviously the other girl already knew this, or she would have asked that first.

"Still, I find that weird." Asanuma-san said, glaring at her again. "Do you know Aika well enough as to willingly throw everything in your hands away to run and help her?"

"I regard Hitomi-san as a friend." Kuroko said proudly.

"…Nothing more?"

Kuroko stilled, looking at Asanuma-san's red face; she didn't properly meet her gaze. Remembering the conversation she had overheard yesterday, Kuroko suddenly grinned smugly. Was she possibly concerned about those rumors…? And then she frowned. But wasn't she was the one who had spread them around in the first place? She was probably even misusing her ability to force Hitomi-san into – _that_!

"That is all there is. Friends." She confirmed at last.

"Well, I guess I'll take your word for it." The third-year said dryly. Still, her expression eased up a bit. "You are the one who has been hanging around with Misaka-san, are you not?"

"I have not been _hanging around_ with her!" Kuroko fumed, reddening herself. "We merely happened to meet up – more often than necessary!"

"Oh really? Then yesterday…"

"We had detention together!" Kuroko didn't know why she kept defending herself, blushing so furiously.

"You know, I kind of envy you."

That was unexpected; Kuroko's protest died on her tongue. "Eh?"

Asanuma-san looked into the air thoughtfully. "To be honest, last year I was assigned to Misaka-san as a guide, just like Aika was to you." She chuckled shortly. "I got cold feet though; the moment I saw her, I knew I would not be able to carry it out. So I asked for leave, and it was granted. Misaka-san got another guide; she never even knew my face."

Kuroko did not see any relation of this story to what they had been discussing (what had they been discussing again?). Yet, she found herself asking: "Why?"

"I think…" She gazed at her quilt with a gentle smile, "I have never been very powerful; my ability might be level three, but it's fairly unstable. Yet I use it to gain what I want, and never thought twice about it." Closing her eyes, she continued: "Misaka-san is not like that at all; even though she's level five, she never uses her ability for her own benefit. I've heard of her bravados; the rumors even reach the student council, you know, and they were spreading even before I was elected as the president last year. How she helped our students when they were bothered by delinquents trying to hit on them, how she always acts kind and cheerful to everyone. In reality, I would love to be friends with someone like that."

Gazing at the quilt again, she smiled almost sadly. "However, knowing how my own self was so wicked in comparison, I dared not even speak to her. I told myself she'd hate someone like me – perhaps she'd even blast me away with that railgun." She chuckled.

_What's with this feeling of an old woman reminiscing about her youth?_ Kuroko thought dryly, and simultaneously tried to smother the image of that beam of light she'd witnessed the second-year fire yesterday.

"That's why, yesterday, when she entered the bathroom and saw me lying on the floor…" she hesitated for a moment, "…I thought for sure she'd blame me for what had happened to Aika; I was scared out of my wits, to be honest. But she didn't know… she asked me what had happened, and then brought me here. She listened to my story, and then, just like you, stormed off." She looked at Kuroko, her gaze soft and tender. "At that moment, I thought of how alike you are. And I envy you, for standing side by side with a person like that."

_Side by side…?_ Kuroko though of how she'd been rescued by that beam of electricity yesterday, and wanted to tell her just how wrong she was. She couldn't defeat those boys that Misaka-san had taken care of without breaking a sweat; she could not safely enter the fabric that Misaka-san blasted open like it was made of cardboard, and she had even been knocked out cold in a moment of letting her guard down, yet again leaving her fate in the hands of the older girl.

"We are not side by side at all." She said bitterly. Asanuma-san looked surprised at first, but then that gentle smile returned.

"That may have been a poor choice of words, indeed." She said. "Rather than in terms of ability and power though, I meant as in personality. You both ran off to help a person you hadn't once spoken to before –" _except I _have_ spoken to you before, though you don't seem to remember that,_ Kuroko thought sourly, "– with no regard of your own safety or involvement. To be able to make such an unselfish decision, to help someone regardless of who they are – that's why I envy you."

Kuroko had the burning desire to tell her again that she had meant to help _Hitomi-san_, but she did not possess the will to break this sunny elusion the other girl had made for herself.

Asanuma-san had more on her heart. "Aika was… Aika is a miracle too. A person like her, as kind and gentle as no-one else, to be with _me_, the naïve, selfish woman I am…" She sighed, smiling softly.

Kuroko stared at her. She seemed so sincere, yet it was hard to believe Hitomi-san would willingly pair up with someone like this.

"Did you want to see me to tell me this?" She asked. She couldn't help but feel it was all a bit uncomfortable. Up until yesterday, she hadn't thought of this girl as anything but a horrible, arrogant moron. Trying to change that now seemed impossible, and she wasn't even sure that was the correct thing to do.

"I guess the introduction prolonged." Asanuma-san said. "Though I dared not hope for your help again if I were to simply ask – and yet, I cannot hope to accomplish this alone." Her gaze turned serious and determined as she met Kuroko's stare dead on. "Shirai-san, please, will you help me free Hitomi Aika?"

Kuroko stared at her for a long moment. "Did you have anything to do with it at all?" She asked at last, and as the words left her mouth, Asanuma-san's expression changed into one of desperation – and Kuroko knew.

"Of course not! I would never do anything like that to Aika – I tried to make her change her mind about this whole election to avoid having her hurt, but she's so stubborn!" She cried this out, and then raised a hand and furiously wiped her eyes. Kuroko watched her solemnly. Yes, there was no way Asanuma-san would lie about this. She was normally careful about trusting people right off the bat, but this girl, while being haughty, pesky, rude and not coming off as especially intelligent – she still did not give the impression of wanting to hurt Hitomi-san, and Kuroko was certain she would never have put herself in such a situation as she found her in yesterday. _She's not lying._ Then, whatever else Kuroko might have been thinking about, the why's and how's, they didn't matter now.

What mattered was that Hitomi-san was missing, and they already had a set of clues to follow. They just needed to find a connection, some place to start looking. And she had an inkling she knew just the person to ask.

XXX

In another part of the city, another girl was sitting at her school desk deep in thought. The voice of her teacher was but mere background noise as she concentrated deeply on something entirely other than schoolwork. Ever since the call from Anti-Skill yesterday and the abruptly cut-off conversation with Shirai-san, Kazari had been feeling up and down. She was worried about Shirai-san; she had tried to call her back and only met voicemail, and then sent a text message asking if she was ok, but got no answer. Apart from that though, she was also confused about the sudden development in the invisible robber case.

_Usan Research is to take over the investigation… Usan Research Branch V is cooperating with Jousei Care to develop spice… Usan Research… _She frowned, and sighed. Even if she wanted it to be connected, Usan Research was a huge research group with many branches. Just because one part of it acted suspiciously, it didn't mean every single branch was involved… and what was she hoping to find anyway? The invisible robber and what had happened to Hyou-chan hardly had anything in common.

_RRRIIIIIING!_

"Uwaah!" Kazari jumped in her seat as the sound interrupted her thoughts – every single person in the classroom stared at her, and the teacher glared disapprovingly. Kazari reddened, and still her cell phone went on: _Riing, riing, riing._

"Are you going to answer that?" Their teacher asked dryly.

"H-hai!" Kazari hurriedly dug into her backpack, beet red and oozing with embarrassment, while chuckles erupted around her. Ruiko was grinning widely at her, and when Kazari finally found her phone, she briefly looked at the caller's name – her eyes widening – before pushing the answer button.

"Shirai-san!" She bellowed, making the teacher splutter in annoyance. Even Ruiko grew wide-eyed for a moment, before bursting into laughter. "Shirai-san, how come you never called me back yesterday?" Kazari asked, not allowing Kuroko to even greet her. "What happened? I only heard noises and then suddenly the call was cut off –"

"UIHARU KAZARI!" The teacher bellowed, making several students grimace at the loud noise. Kazari snapped back to the present, realized her position, and grew red again.

"Uiharu, I need you to do some fact checks for me." Shirai-san's voice said. "Are you free right now? Uiharu?"

Kazari pursed her lips. Turning fiercely to the teacher, she announced: "I'm sorry, this is Judgment work!" And she grabbed her backpack and exited the classroom in a hurry.

XXX

"A girl in your school was kidnapped?" Kazari was shocked to hear this. She was currently holding the phone to her ear while running through the corridors of Sakugawa middle school, aiming for the library. "I heard nothing about this!" Pushing open the large doors to the room, empty now due to it still being lesson time, she listened as Shirai-san answered.

"She was kidnapped by a Unabara Ryoko, Fasu Niba, and an individual we believe to be the same man as the invisible robber." Kuroko was standing in the deserted corridor outside the infirmary while Asanuma-san readied herself inside. For some reason she had found herself agreeing on taking the third-year with her; possibly a soft spot for her dedication to try and rescue her girlfriend (even though she still doubted the relationship was natural).

"We already checked their usual training facility, and were assaulted by the invisible man." She continued. "Sadly, he managed to get away." This setback was annoying, but she couldn't bring herself to blame Misaka-san. She had failed just as much by getting knocked out.

"Mou, Shirai-san, why didn't you tell me before?" Kazari chastised, finding a secluded corner in the library and tossing her backpack into a chair before starting to pull out her 10" laptop. "You didn't even mention it, and then our call as suddenly cut off – I thought something horrible had happened to you!" She turned on her laptop and immediately logged on to the Judgment network; here she quickly found that the kidnapping was, just like the bus incident, not reported to the Judgment database.

"Hai, hai…" Kuroko was not about to admit she hadn't even thought about informing her fellow Judgment members about the situation yesterday. "In any case, we already know quite a lot about Unabara Ryoko, with her being a close friend of Asanuma-san." _Apparently..._ "It seems Fasu Niba was a transfer student in first grade, and we need to find out whether any of those two have a connection to Usan Research Branch V or a faction in Tokiwadai."

This was what she had come up with during the last few minutes of thinking after leaving Asanuma-san inside the infirmary; with what those two had done, it was possible they were connected to things on a deeper level, or at least to a faction that would somehow benefit from Asanuma-san staying as the student council president. Or one that would definitively _not _benefit from Hitomi-san being elected. And there was those rumors that Hitomi-san had mentioned back in the café last Monday, regarding some student council members working for a faction. Though they were mere rumors, perhaps one shouldn't always be too quick to cast them aside…

Kazari's eyes widened. "Usan Research Branch V? That's…" Her breath caught in her throat; she suddenly remembered something else. "Unabara Ryoko? That's the Tokiwadai student we met yesterday!"

"What?"

"Well, Nebi – I mean Hyou-chan – there's this Child Error Facility called Jousei Care – anyway, we met Unabara-san there!"

"Ah, apparently she grew up in a place called that…" Kuroko frowned. "When did you say you met her?"

"Aah – not long after I sent you what info I could find about the bus accident…"

If Kuroko remembered the time stamp on that message correctly, that would be just a few minutes after she went to detention. "She was at Jousei Care first, then came back to Tokiwadai to carry out such a thing… tch." She was still put off that she'd failed to notice anything at all – pulling weeds while something like that happened.

"In any case, Jousei Care and Usan Research Branch V has a partnership in developing spice." Kazari continued, already starting her search onto the net for more clues.

"Spice?" Kuroko asked dryly.

"Branch V is based in District 4, apparently they have contact with several spice distributors, and they cooperate with several schools and Child Error facilities to develop new tastes… Jousei Care is one of them."

"That sounds rather plausible, and yet extremely sketchy." Kuroko stroked her chin thoughtfully. Why on Earth would a spice research facility want Misaka-san to contact them anyway? It was possible that the researcher they met outside the infirmary yesterday didn't ask on behalf of Branch V of course… yes, it was probably not related. There was no way that woman could know of their involvement at that time; she probably thought they were merely passing by during their detention.

"Hai, it does… Let's see, Tokiwadai, Tokiwadai…" Kazari was scrolling down an internet site she had found while searching for information yesterday; it was an online database consisting of proven and theoretical connections between different facilities, schools and people in Academy City. "Ah, here we go. Usan Research Branch V has a contract with a faction in Tokiwadai called _Atomics_."

"That was fast." Kuroko was honestly impressed. She'd gotten the impression Uiharu wasn't really cut out for on-site work, but for information gathering she seemed like a huge resource. Yet, this posed yet another question. "What would a spice research facility gain from cooperating with a faction though?"

"Good question…" Kazari found it just as odd.

_Some espers might be able to use their abilities to change flavors… is that it? _Kuroko sweat-dropped. In any case, it was the only lead they had. "Will you be able to find out whether this Atomics faction has any connection to Unabara or Fasu?"

"Ah, if they have an online member list somewhere…" She sounded rather unsure, and Kuroko couldn't blame her.

"Even if they had a public member list, there's no way their names will be on it; they're part of the student council and are required to be neutral."

"It seems like Atomics and Branch V has been contracted since last spring though." Kazari said. "Is it possible Unabara-san was the one to arrange for something like that?"

"If she has a connection to Usan Research through Jousei Care, it might…" Kuroko stroked her chin thoughtfully. "In any case, Usan Research was announced to take over the investigation of the invisible robber case the very same day as the bus accident and the kidnapping happened, and also, Branch V was present at Tokiwadai yesterday… it's too many pointers to ignore. They are definitively our best place to search for clues. I will go there myself and check it out." Hopefully it wouldn't turn out to be another wild goose chase like yesterday.

"I'll try to find some more information about Branch V on the net." Kazari said, typing into her laptop with hurried moves. "It seems like they must have something to do with the invisible robber, though finding the information might be..."

"Do not hesitate at a time like this!" Kuroko barked. "Use any means necessary; finding Hitomi-san is of outmost importance right now!"

"Aah, hai! But, are we allowed to do things like this? It's far outside our jurisdiction…"

"Are you even asking that?" Kuroko sighed lightly. "We are Judgment, are we not? We preserve peace in this city when everyone else fails!"

Kazari's heart soared in her chest, even though the utterance seemed rather made up. "Hai!" She beamed. "We'll find the criminals and cuff them up!"

* * *

Note:

Figuring out what to tell and how to convey it to the audience sure isn't easy. As a reader, you'll have to use your brain too! Though I'm hoping to pull together all of the plot strings, and I'm stumbling my way through the complicated process of doing so. When the story is completely posted and you've read it all, I would be thankful if you told me if there's still some things you feel was left unanswered – as a means of learning to see what the readers see =) Now then, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm really looking forward to post the rest!

**Next time: **"A hardware store?"


	19. Chapter 19: Companionship

**Chapter 19: Companionship**

"I still find it hard to believe Ryoko would actually do something like this." Asanuma-san said. "I have known her for six years, mind you – six years! She might be shady at times, but to do something like this – I cannot bring myself to believe it!" She sounded fired up, as if this rant had been building up for eons. "And those scientists – just walking into my room last night to ask me about that disgusting stalker, and not one word about Aika – Ah, it annoys me!" She put her hands to her head in agony. "Those vile people, to think they might right now be leering over Aika like she's some kind of guinea pig – aaah, Aika, I am truly sorry!"

Kuroko sighed at the antics of the lady-like girl beside her. She'd been going on ever since they left Tokiwadai, wailing and complaining and raving at everything. That was twenty minutes ago. She hadn't even paused while Kuroko stopped by an ATM to withdraw money.

"By the way, Shirai-san, where are we going?" Asanuma-san seemed to finally snap out of her grieving to inquire about their plans. Kuroko had been determinedly aiming for a specific part of town ever since they left school, even though they could strictly have gone right to District 4 – the district that held the office of Usan Research Branch V. She was still not sure whether to believe this Branch V to be involved in the kidnapping of Hitomi-san directly, or merely linked to the invisible man. But in any case, there was no doubt paying them a visit might grant them more knowledge than sitting around waiting for Anti-Skill to move (if they even would), or for some clues about Hitomi-san's whereabouts to drop into their laps. While Uiharu tried for probing the net for information, Kuroko would try the direct approach and pay them a visit personally.

However, even though there seemed to be no doubt that District 4 was the right place to go right now, the Tokiwadai duo had disembarked the bus at a station in Area F of District 7, a place littered with stores of every kind imaginable, and very westernized food stalls. It was still school hours for most students, but the streets were still fairly crowded. The different schools had different schedules for their days, particularly among the high schools and universities. Some students may have a day off or even a home-study day, in which they'd grab the chance to go shopping. And some were probably just skipping school, like a certain two-some. Though "skipping school" would not be their answer if you asked what they were doing here at a time like this.

Indeed, what were they doing here? "We are going to buy some new clothes, of course." Kuroko answered.

This made Asanuma-san halt for a moment. "You – you are saying you want to go _shopping_?" She looked around in horror. "_Here_?" Most people would rather ask _'why?' _or even '_now?'_, but there seemed to be no doubt that Asanuma-san was not like most people. She was an ojou-sama, after all.

Kuroko sighed dejectedly. "If we were to enter that research lab wearing our Tokiwadai uniforms, they would see through us at once. We should buy ourselves some civilian attire as to not attract any attention." This was only underlined by the fact that their uniforms were already attracting attention from students around them.

"Why could we not have done that back in the Garden?" Asanuma-san protested.

Kuroko ignored her and entered the clothes store to her right; a somewhat fashionable store with prices that were affordable to even the common student if they saved up some money. The inside was littered with many different clothes meant for girls in the age of 16 and up; a couple of girls were squealing over some of the new spring fashion products by the wall.

"Hey!" Asanuma-san was still standing outside the doorstep, red-faced as she glared in at the younger girl. Perhaps her noble feet had never been put on the floor of such a common store. "You didn't answer my question, brat!"

Kuroko stiffened, but forced herself to answer calmly even though her body screamed otherwise. "If the two of us went shopping for clothes inside the Garden and had been spotted, the whole school would know in a matter of hours." While they had easily exited the school by teleporting outside, their disappearance would surely be noticed and there was no need to announce their skipping of school by walking right into a store during school hours.

Asanuma-san was obviously taken aback. "I see." She said solemnly, a worried look on her face. "It is true I would never want to be associated with the likes of a first-year..."

Kuroko's eyebrows twitched.

Asanuma-san hesitatingly entered the store and looked around warily. "Still, such stores… I have heard they do not even have a single bottle of Chanel!"

"This is a clothes store, not a perfume parlor." Kuroko said dryly. _Honestly, why did I have to bring her? _She couldn't seem to remember right now. Well, they didn't know what to expect once they arrived at Branch V, and perhaps Asanuma-san turned out to be… useful? _Yeah, right. _She snorted.

"May I help you?" A smiling store attendant was suddenly standing in front of them.

"Ah, yes," Kuroko said, raising her chin regally, "I am looking for something light, yet exotic, with a theme of 'Hidden Desire'."

The girl in front of her sweat-dropped. "Er, well, on a girl such as you, I would think a skirt and a fitting top would be nice…"

"That's fine, as long as it accentuates the curves of my body."

"My, are you trying to impress someone?" Asanuma-san asked gleefully. "How cute, with that little chest of yours…"

"At my age things happen very quickly." Kuroko said calmly. Then, she smugly added: "Besides, aren't _you_ the one who should think of a way to impress a certain someone after what has happened?" With what she had heard from the conversation yesterday, it seemed like Asanuma-san might have some things to apologize for even if she had nothing to do with the kidnapping.

The other girl reddened, then turned away in a huff. "I need no outside interference to impress anyone. I have absolute confidence in my natural charm."

Kuroko smiled smugly. "And yet rumors of an ability called _Attraction _are flying amongst the students…"

"How do you know about that-?"

"Oh my, was it a secret?" Kuroko giggled smugly, quite pleased at the other's thunderstruck expression. "Still, what does it matter if everyone knows, seeing how confident you are in your natural charm?"

Asanuma-san was steadily reddening, and the store clerk stood there with an awkward smile on her face.

XXX

Three quarters of an hour later they left the store with a bag of clothes each in their hands.

"Honestly, I will never go shopping with you again!" Asanuma-san huffed. There had been a lot of testing and matching before they both found something they could live with – Asanuma-san refused to try on anything that cost less than 3000 yen, and even then, seemed utterly displeased with every single garment the store attendant managed to dig up. Apparently, going on a rescue mission was not to be taken lightly in the world of ojou-samas. The other customers in there had been staring at her for some time during the ordeal, and the store attendant had looked utterly relieved when they finally left.

"I did not do it because I wanted to." Kuroko huffed. While she had been less focused on price, she had been minutely choosing each garment, and though the outfit she ended up with was by no means _perfect_, at least she could wear it without feeling like a bum.

"Whatever. We need to find a place to change, you know." The third-year said, looking around the street. "I hope you weren't planning to do it in the toilet of some fast food restaurant – hey!" Kuroko had promptly ignored her and entered another store along the street.

This one was quite different from the first one; Asanuma-san gazed at the walls and shelves that were filled with all sorts of indelicate things: Hammers with integrated flashlights and an automatic nailing function (no need to swing it), auto-screwdrivers with magnetic tips, holographic measurement tools that could also record wind speed, pressure and temperature, and tons of other things quite uncommon to the world of a fine-lady-to-be.

"A hardware store?" She asked hesitantly.

Kuroko went right up to the counter and pulled out her cell phone, and the man behind it gazed at her with an unimpressed expression. "Yeah, girly? You lost or something?"

"I checked your website and it seems you are selling something like this." Kuroko held up her phone; the holographic screen was showing an ad for a product. It was a strap of leather belt with holes that could fit tools like common screwdrivers and the like. It was quite simple, nothing high-tech or unbelievable about it at all (except the expensive leather, of course).

The man looked at the ad, then back at her. "You mean you want one of those? You wanna play carpenter with your boyfriend or something?" His gaze travelled to Asanuma-san, and lingered just a bit too long on her chest. Rather than 'boyfriend', perhaps something entirely else was running through his mind.

Kuroko ignored his nonsense however. "I want to buy two lengths of 35 centimeters and one of two meters."

The guy stared at her again, cocking an eyebrow. "You know, it's not rope. They don't come in lengths like that."

"I also want five hundred spikes to go with them." Kuroko placed a rather sizeable bunt of money on the counter; the man's eyes widened instantly.

And so, they left the hardware store with a box with five hundred metal spikes and three straps of leather belts skillfully adjusted to just the right length.

Asanuma-san gazed at Kuroko with disbelief written over her entire face. "Are you mentally ill, or something?"

Kuroko wasn't listening; she gazed at her shopping bag contently. The thought had struck her after the ordeal in the park last week – when those boys ran away, she realized she needed some means in addition to her teleporting ability to keep criminals in check. However she hadn't really had the time to ponder over it anymore. Yesterday had been the last drop though; never again would she be reliant on someone else to help her in those kinds of situations.

"I just need to learn how to use them, but I am certain it will make the whole difference!" She declared.

"A…ha." Asanuma-san said, looking rather skeptical.

They rented a room at the nearest hotel and got changed; the room had a safe where they could deposit their Tokiwadai uniforms in the meantime. Kuroko donned a blue checkered skirt not much longer than the Tokiwadai one, and a body-tight purple t-shirt with a red heart on the chest (she'd scorned the heart, but it was the only thing in her size), finished off by a dark blue summer jacket. Asanuma-san was dressed in elegant black jeans and a red and white checkered shirt, as well as a black jeans jacket. Her long, black hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she swiveled in front of the mirror with a pleased look.

"Well, I could not expect more from such common garments I guess." She said. The shirt hugged her chest tightly as she moved; the neckline was rather low, easily showing off the top of her breasts. Kuroko thought it seemed rather conspicuous to be meant as a disguise, but decided to keep her mouth shut. Picking up the short leather belts from the shopping bag, she strapped them on around her thighs.

"W-what are you doing?" Asanuma-san asked in surprise.

Kuroko ignored her, picking up a handful of spikes from the box she had placed on the double bed. It wasn't just any kind of spikes; these were made of a variant of duplex stainless steel, carefully developed at one of Academy City's many research institutes. Basically, it was much stronger than normal steel and could withstand an impressive force, as well as never get corroded or stained. (Also, it was 100% recyclable of course.) There was enough room to fit eight of them in each belt, and she hoped that would be enough.

She glared at the spikes held between her fingers and concentrated.

"Why the heck would you don such an unsightly – guah!" Asanuma-san jumped as the spikes in Kuroko's hands suddenly disappeared one by one in amazing speed, and the third-year stared at the empty spots. "Where did they go?"

Kuroko lifted the skirt somewhat so they could see the belts – every single hole was now adorning a spike.

"Wha – you teleported them just like _that_?" Asanuma-san's eyes were wide. "Isn't that dangerous? Why didn't you do that _before_ you put on those hideous things!"

"Hmf." Kuroko sniffed proudly and raised her chin. "My accuracy with small items such as these is unmatched – if the distance is this short, there is never any danger of splitting."

"Splitting?" Asanuma-san frowned.

Kuroko gave a dejected sigh. No wonder this brainless rich girl hadn't heard the term before. "Basically, having one object appear inside another when you did not mean to." She explained. Of course, for someone who didn't completely understand her ability, it was probably hard to imagine how it really worked.

Any object she teleported would travel through the 11 dimensions at what seemed like instantaneous speed to the naked eye. It was like grabbing a box and tossing it through the air – replace the air with dimensions and the tossing with instantaneous movement, and you'd be closing in. Her powers differed from 'disintegrating the object into particles and reassemble it at a target location' as in essence, she simply _moved _the object. So if there was something inside the box, even if she did not know what the contents were, they would still follow the box, just like they would if you thossed it through the air. (This was also why, unless she deliberately left them behind, the clothes would always follow the body of the person she teleported. In any case, teleporting around the town while naked was not really an option.)

When any object she teleported appeared at the location she meant for it to, it would push away whatever might already be there, be it dust, concrete or human flesh. In essence, the teleported object 'split' whatever occupied the target location by forcing its mass into it. This always happened when teleporting anything, of course; however, when using the term 'splitting' you usually referred to it happening when it wasn't meant to. She'd experienced it by accident during training, trying to teleport two objects at once and ending up having them appear inside each other near the target location instead.

This is why – despite the short distance and small objects ensuring her accuracy being almost always 100% – she chose to leave a miniature breath of pause between each spike instead of teleporting them all at once. This allowed her to ensure they all appeared at their target locations and not inside each other, her leg or anywhere else unpleasant. However good she had become at teleporting things without splitting them, she wouldn't take unnecessary chances just to show off.

"Something like that could happen?" Asanuma-san asked, still frowning. "That's even more reason to not suddenly teleport them like that!"

Kuroko raised her chin proudly. "I have complete control over my own ability."

Asanuma-san huffed. "Hn, how conceited." But she smiled nonetheless.

"It is merely the result of proper training." Kuroko corrected. Her cell phone gave a jingling melody. "Ah, that must be Uiharu." She pulled the phone out of her newly bought skirt and put it to her ear. "Yes?"

"Shirai-san, are you there yet?" Uiharu's voice said.

"Ah, no, we have just finished changing."

"…changing?"

"Yes."

There were a few seconds of puzzled silence. Then the other girl continued: "Well, I am still working on accessing their private network. I might be able to override their security system, or at least part of it. In any case, I found you an overview map of the building; I added in the surveillance cameras for you too."

Kuroko pulled the phone from her ear and activated the speaker function, then opened the file Uiharu sent her. It was a huge overview map of two floors; Kuroko smiled contently at its details.

"Good work, Uiharu."

"Is that where we're going?" Asanuma-san asked, looking at the holographic screen as well. "So Aika is supposed to be in there?" She sounded somewhat skeptical.

Kuroko sighed. "I do not know about the _supposed_ thing, but this is the only lead we have as of now."

"Why would a spice research facility be interested in something like kidnapping Aika though?" Asanuma-san huffed, hands on her hips. "I don't like this."

"Hai, it's rather diffuse…" Kazari said from the speaker. "We know that Atomics is receiving some goods from them due to the cooperation, but we're still missing a clear link between Atomics or Branch V and any of our suspects…"

"Hmmm…" Kuroko furrowed her brow, thinking. Truly, right now this whole operation seemed like a shot in the dark – knowing the target was out there, yet having no idea in what direction or how far away.

"Atomics?" Asanuma-san suddenly wrinkled her nose, as if she'd smelled something disgusting.

"What? You know about them?" Kuroko asked, looking up at her. Of course, with her being the previous student council president, perhaps she _should _know about them, but you never knew with this one. In fact, Kuroko found it hard to believe she ever did any work at all. If what Hitomi-san had told her last Monday was true, she was more occupied with staying popular than actually getting anything done. (And this was all a cover-up for the fact that Kuroko hadn't thought about asking the older girl at all.)

"_Know _about them?" The third-year gave a dignified sniff. "Those whacko's should never have been a faction at all – they're creepy, to say the least."

_With how this girl thinks, it's hard to judge whether her 'creepy' is the same as anyone else's. _Kuroko sighed, looking back down at her cell.

"Don't go and sigh at me like that!" Asanuma-san barked. "Do you want me to tell you or not? Ryoko befriended some of those guys and was talked into joining for a bit in second grade. However as soon as she found out how crazy they were, she quit." She stroked a lock of hair behind her ear and gave a dignified sigh. "She was elected to the student council right after that anyway, so she couldn't have stayed in even if she wanted."

"This means Unabara-san definitively has a connection to Atomics!" Kazari said excitedly.

"Of course she has!" Asanuma-san barked again. "I could have told you earlier had you asked!"

So Asanuma-san actually did have something to contribute with. Kuroko was still having her doubts about her usefulness though. Saying she was such a good friend of Unabara-san, yet unable to see this coming – well, maybe she was just full of herself.

She looked at the map on her cell phone. "In any case, no matter how many questions we might have, there is no doubt every lead we have, no matter how vague, points to this place. The only thing we can do is go check it out."

"I guess you're right." Asanuma-san sighed.

XXX

They left the hotel room and headed for the train station. Finally sitting at the train to 4th District, Kuroko was reading through the information Uiharu had sent her, trying to figure out what to do. According to the map, it seemed like the second floor held the offices of the branch heads; these might be the best place to start searching. But how to get inside those offices without being noticed? She doubted they let visitors just enter freely.

"What are you planning to use those things for?" Asanuma-san said, pulling her out of her thoughts. The other girl was gazing at Kuroko's thighs, the leather belts hidden underneath the newly bought skirt.

Kuroko sighed. "Whatever it is _you _think they can be used for, it is probably not right." She pushed the holographic screen back into her phone and put it in her pocket.

Asanuma-san gave her a confused stare, and then suddenly laughed loudly. "Haha, oh my God, you're unreal! I didn't mean _that_! God, that would hurt!" She laughed a bit more before finally calming down into snickers. Then she cleared her throat and arranged her face back into that of a proper lady, and looked at Kuroko again. "I assume they are meant to be weapons?"

"I would do no such thing." Kuroko claimed, not quite understanding what the other girl found so funny, exactly, yet pretty sure she didn't want to know. "These are for self-defense only." And hindering criminals from running away.

Asanuma-san furrowed her brow. "Still, even if it is for self-defense, a weapon is a weapon. Are you not confident in your own skill?"

"One never knows what lies ahead." Kuroko said importantly. "Even Tokiwadai's Railgun uses foreign objects during her signature move." And seeing the third ranked level five use game arcade coins as ammunition had been quite surprising indeed.

"She does?" Asanuma-san seemed surprised. "I always thought it was natural. Doesn't her ability generate that thing?"

"I was talking about the projectile, not the power in itself. She could probably use any metal object."

"Ah, I see." Asanuma-san gazed at the hidden leather belts again. "I guess even high levels needs to have some tricks up their sleeves."

Kuroko glanced sideways at her. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Ah, no, I didn't mean it that way. I was just surprised." She sounded pretty honest too.

Kuroko gazed at her for a few more seconds, then sighed. "Anyone who relies solely on their ability will sooner or later be beaten down."

Asanuma-san's eyes widened somewhat, and she hurriedly diverted her gaze. "Of course; everyone knows that!"

Kuroko smirked at her obvious surprise. "How did you and Hitomi-san end up together anyway?"

"Eeh?" Asanuma-san's cheeks was slowly regaining their normal color. "As if it's any of your business; for your information, it is a mutual relationship."

"I never doubted that." No surprise she would say something like that. The two of them seemed so utterly different; she was sure Asanuma-san's ability had something to do with it.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Asanuma-san huffed. Kuroko was surprised at her sudden capability of reading minds, and couldn't seem to convey a response in such a short time. Asanuma-san continued without waiting for one either way: "It's because of my ability, right?" She sighed. "I guess it won't hurt to tell _you _this, since you seem to be pretty unpopular."

_Guh – what's that got to do with anything? _Kuroko's eyebrow's twitched in annoyance.

Asanuma-san stroked a lock of hair behind her ear and put on her best prideful look. "My ability has several limitations, of course; in theory I could make anyone fall in love with me, but that's theory. In reality, my ability only works on those that do not already have someone they like, and who is not aware of me using it on them."

Kuroko pursed her lips tightly together. _Is that supposed to convince me? _Hitomi-san might have been one of those with no romantic spouse; in any case, there was no way to prove Asanuma-san was speaking the truth.

"Furthermore, there's no way I'd be able to use it on Aika. I already tried, mind you."

_Admitting it like that! _Kuroko was shocked and appalled at once.

Asanuma-san glanced at her and smirked. "That surprise you?"

Kuroko couldn't even croak up an answer through her horror. Saying she was surprised was kind of misleading though.

Asanuma-san obviously didn't mind her expression, and just continued to smirk all-knowingly (which was rather annoying). "Aika has the ability of True Sight, so she's pretty hard to fool around."

Kuroko frowned. "True Sight?" Now that sounded rather… …no, never mind.

"She can sense people's true intentions or some other." Asanuma-san helpfully clarified. "I never really got it; in any case, it's sorted as a telepathic ability. However it works, it made my ability totally useless." She gave a dramatic sigh. "Of course, it turned out she found my direct nature rather fascinating, and so we ended up together anyway."

_That's not romantic at all! _Kuroko wanted to screech at her. _Even talking about yourself in such a way -!_

Now she _was _surprised though; Hitomi-san had never mentioned her ability in front of her. Truthfully, she'd never asked either. For most students, it was regarded a somewhat personal question to ask about one's ability. Unless you found yourself fighting with them, of course: Then they'd _gladly _explain, and to such an extent that you felt like you were facing some kind of super-esper too.

Asanuma-san looked rather proud there, sitting in her seat. "So, as you might imagine, our relationship is the real deal." She glanced down at Kuroko, her smile turning smug. "You looking to pick up some tricks, perhaps?"

Kuroko scooped up her disassembled thoughts and tossed them into a corner of her mind. "Hah! Why would I?" She put up an impressive display of not caring about what she had heard at all.

"Well it seems to me like a certain level five has caught your attention…"

Kuroko's cheeks reddened, but she kept her posture proud. "T-there is no reason to try to throw me off; I have come to terms with my own situation." She'd only used several hours last night thinking about it, finally relenting to the fact that there was indeed… well, _something_ there. _I suppose one shouldn't underestimate the accuracy of online tests..._

"Oh really?" The third-year continued to smirk. "So if a man were to try and charm Misaka-san in front of your eyes, you know what you would do?"

"Eh?" Her eyes widened: She hadn't considered that. Could it be... Misaka-san already had a boyfriend? The image of Misaka-san and some unidentified, spiky-haired boy played inside her mind; Onee-sama's small, lustrous lips forming a shy smile as she rested her head on his chest – his hand gently caressing her light brown hair... the aura around Kuroko turned deadly, and her pigtails might as well have been real life snakes the way they fluttered about dangerously.

"I would _kill_ him!" She hissed.

"Oho!" Asanuma-san chuckled. "I guess Aika was right on the mark as usual, then."

Kuroko snapped out of it and looked at the older girl questioningly. "Eh?"

"She said you two seemed to have grown close, and she was certain you'd find each other."

"F-find… each other?" Kuroko's heart rapidly beat against her ribs as she imagined herself and Misaka-san… find each other. She suddenly forced out a laugh. "Hah. How ridiculous. And why are you suddenly talking about that –" Her face reddened all of a sudden, as she had been about to utter an insult, and her heart started beating much faster. "M-Misaka-san like that? Just the other day you even warned me to stay away from her lest I get injured!"

"Why is that something to get all fired up for?" Asanuma-san asked. "We are talking about the level five electromaster here, are we not? Do you even know _half _of the stories flourishing about her? Of course you might get injured!"

There was no way Kuroko could believe this girl had said something like that out of good will and concern. Yet, she couldn't really disagree either. The incident in their dorm just two nights ago was still fresh in her mind; even if Misaka-san hadn't really _tried _to electrify her after their meeting back by the vending machine, there had been a couple of close calls. _Really, no wonder people are scared! _

"In any case, Aika said that, not me." Asanuma-san continued. "She even emphasized the fact that Misaka-san seems oh-so much happier now than just a few weeks ago. Apparently she finds it in herself to be worried about her classmates like that." Her face gave the impression of honestly not understanding this prospect at all.

"She did?" Kuroko's heart was still thumping hard in her chest; now it felt like something wriggled around inside her stomach as well.

Asanuma-san looked at her, and smiled crookedly. Leaning down, she whispered into Kuroko's ear: "Apparently the Railgun has quite the scary look on her face when in a bad mood. I guess even level fives have things to worry about... neh?"

Kuroko's thumping heart was hurting against her ribs; her hands felt sweaty. She visualized again the moment when Misaka-san had stepped into the fight yesterday; that expression as she gazed upon the gang of boys, that confident smile… the moment she'd announced Kuroko was her best friend…

"You think… Onee-sama…" She was unable to finish the sentence. Image after image ran through her head; Misaka-san's smile, her confident posture, her small, yet deliciously enticing chest, her hips, her slender, white legs, the fierce determination shining in her eyes…

"My, you're drooling." Asanuma-san pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Kuroko, who snapped out of her fantasies abruptly. She accepted the offered piece of cloth and dabbed it at her chin as regally as possible. "And yes, I am certain of it." The third-year continued. "Believe me; I know how girls think."

Kuroko's motion of wiping away her drool halted. _She knows how..._ Her left hand clenched around the edge of her skirt tightly as she thought of something that put her off. "But we always yell at each other…"

Asanuma-san snorted in a pompous way. "As if me and Aika never fight? You should hear us sometimes – you'd think we were at war or something."

Kuroko's breath hitched, and she swallowed slowly. True, they did fight – she'd heard it herself just yesterday. And if they still had such a relationship… well, she didn't really know that yet of course, but still…

Asanuma-san leaned towards her ear again, as if to share a secret just between the two of them. "Of course, it might be that Misaka-san hasn't quite realized it yet. She might easily be fooled by some lecherous guy; I imagine she'd be quite popular with the boys as well, no?"

Kuroko's throat constricted. "Onee-sama…" Could it be that Misaka-san was simply shy, underneath that brusque exterior? Confused about her own feelings, just like Kuroko had been? _That may be true… _and if so, she might be easily swayed by those of the opposite gender. Which essentially meant… _I… I must protect her!_

"Ah, Onee-sama!" She suddenly exclaimed, startling the other passengers on the train (who were definetively not listening in on their conversation before now, if one should judge from their pinkish cheeks). She pulled at her pigtails in apparent agony. "Kuroko has taken so long to realize! I-I shall make up for it with my whole body and soul!" She looked up with determination, tears springing forth from her eyes. "Our love shall blossom like wild flowers on the savannah during the monsoon!"

Asanuma-san sweat-dropped at the violent reaction. For some reason, she had a feeling that her teasing had just triggered something unstoppable.

XXX

"So… this is it?" Asanuma-san gazed at a two-story building sorely reminiscent of a normal office building.

"Usan Research, Branch V – they don't have a lot of security, but it's a private facility so it's not open to just anyone. We can't disable it all without them noticing." Kuroko was saying this while trying to focus. "Apart from surveillance cameras and secured doors, they have patrolling guards both inside and outside the facility." They were currently standing at the corner of another building further down the street, well away from any scrutinizing glares from any of the people at Usan Research Branch V. She had calmed down after the train episode, having been determined to go right back to Tokiwadai and find Misaka-san until Asanuma-san managed to penetrate her hazy mind and remind her that Misaka-san would probably still be there when they came back.

District 4 was mainly used for cultivation. With Academy City being what it was, it was the newest technology in agriculture, of course. This explained why the area didn't look like farmland at all; there were no acres or plow fields in sight. Instead, huge buildings of several floors covered the district, growth facilities lined up side by side, and powered by windmills on their roofs. Academy City did not produce enough food on its own to supply all of its inhabitants, but with the advanced technologies of accelerated growth and the variety of the different experimental products, it wasn't far from being self-supplied.

Usan Research Branch V was a bit different from the huge buildings surrounding it; it actually gave the feeling of a somewhat normal farmland building. However, that was only because of the greenhouses in the back (they couldn't see them now due to the ground sloping downwards from the entrance, but they had seen them on the map). The branch building itself was a completely normal office building. Perhaps the spices they grew required more delicate surroundings – or perhaps they were simply old-fashioned and preferred to use greenhouses.

Kuroko looked up at the building before them, frowning. "We should be able to teleport inside, but there is a risk we will be noticed, and starting off by acting totally suspicious might be a bad idea..." They still had no reason to believe Branch V was involved in anything illegal, after all. Furthermore, the only way for them to know the approximate movement of anyone inside would be by using Uiharu's connection to the surveillance cameras and have her relay the position of any people in sight through the cell phone. There was no need to say that such a plan was far from fool proof.

Asanuma-san sighed. "It would be better if we can enter without using such sneaky means, would it not?"

Kuroko glanced at her sourly. Most likely, the third-year just wanted any and every chance to show off herself in front of others. Sneaking around hardly seemed like something this person would do. "Of course it would. But we have no reason to believe we can simply walk in." Perhaps Uiharu could somehow manage to slip an appointment into some big boss' calendar… yet if they were exposed…_ Ugh – why am I the only one trying to think here…?_

The third-year suddenly gave a proud sigh, and eyed the guard that was standing on the far corner of the building, looking like he was quite relaxed in the sunny weather. "In that case, I will do something about it." She announced.

Kuroko frowned. "Saying something like that so blatantly…"

"What, do you not trust me? That guy is definitively single, and even if he isn't, this is easy." Asanuma-san was glancing at the guard with a smirk.

"Seducing him into letting us inside?" Kuroko said skeptically. She looked at the guard, scrutinizing. "Are you even certain it will work?" If her ability was indeed as limited as she said, they would be lucky not to meet a happily married guy with his heart filled with love for his one and only wife.

Asanuma-san sighed dejectedly. "Of course I am, please give me some credit. In any case, if it doesn't work we can just leave and sneak inside instead, no?"

"And what did you plan to do if we were exposed after he let us in?" Kuroko asked critically.

"Whaat, in that case it would be his fault, right? We're just visitors, after all!"

Kuroko frowned. It was still rather risky business. But it might be worth a try.

* * *

Note:

I wanted to explain Kuroko's ability at some point, though I won't try to pretend I really understand it or anything (11 dimensions? Try googling it for yourself and see. If someone _can _explain though, please do!) In essence, I think we need to consider the abilities in Academy City as a mixture of science and Personal Reality – what the esper imagine to be true becomes the truth, regardless of its total controversy to the laws of nature. (In theory, Kuroko finds it easy to teleport people around with their clothes on because it's a given to her that's how it should be, and Mikoto is not blasted away by the repercussions of her railgun because she haven't even imagined something like that would happen. Or something like that?) Still, it's not magic. Whether you get my reasoning or not and whether you agree with them or not, don't wrack your brain over it =P

By the way, thanks to "Rushed" saying he missed Saten, I wrote about five more pages of the story. I don't know what counts as fan service if that doesn't! xD (And pointing this out might make you think I wrote five pages worth of only "what is Ruiko doing right now?". She's cooking, bathing, arranging flowers and eating ice cream – all for your reading pleasure! No, but seriously, you won't notice what I wrote wasn't there to begin with. In fact, it should have been there all the time.)

Words and terms:

_Duplex stainless steel:_ Duplex stainless steels have roughly twice the strength compared to austenitic stainless steels and also improved resistance to localized corrosion, particularly pitting, crevice corrosion and stress corrosion cracking. (Wikipedia is the place to go to find stuff like this.)

**Next time: **Paper. Paper everywhere! And carpeted floors! Oh my God, how will this end!

(Just to break the norm, I'm gonna post all the remaining chapters on random days. How fast? Well...)


	20. Chapter 20: Gimei

**Chapter 20: Gimei**

The entrance to Usan Research Branch V was pretty much a normal front entrance like that to any office building. Two large glass doors (tinted, so they couldn't see inside) barred the entrance, a calling system on the wall beside it. A plaque hung above it, saying: "All visitors must have an appointment. Please announce your arrival here."

_That figures._ Kuroko sighed. There were two surveillance cameras overlooking the front entrance; there was no way they could simply teleport inside unnoticed from this position. So it seemed they were left with having to try out Asanuma-san's idea after all. _Well, we already decided that…_ Still, Kuroko had somewhere deep inside hoped that the branch building was open for visitors. It would have made it all so much simpler.

In any case, their standing outside the front entrance like lost tourists trying to find a hotel soon attracted the attention of the guard that was positioned at the corner of the building. He leisurely walked up to them, one hand on the baton at his side, as if trying to intimidate them.

"Ladies, this area is off-limits to unauthorized personnel. Please identify yourselves." He was wearing sunglasses and a dark red uniform with black trousers – he looked young, perhaps in his early twenties. And he was smirking. Kuroko felt nauseous, all of the sudden.

"My, when you bark like that I get all nervous." Asanuma-san said, wriggling exaggeratedly.

"Ah, that was not my intention." He said, stopping in front of them. "Who are you? Do you have an appointment?" Even though his eyes were obscured by those sunglasses, Kuroko had no trouble guessing where they were looking; though it might not be as impressive as Hitomi-san's, Asanuma-san's chest was still quite the eye-catcher for a poor, unsuspecting man.

"We're here for a project at school." Asanuma-san said. "We're doing this super boring essay on spices, and were totally lost… then we heard about this place, and thought maybe we could be granted a tour?" She leaned forward slightly, and the guard's head followed her movement like in a trance. His fingers were twitching weirdly. _Is this her ability? _Kuroko looked on in interest. _So, he _is _single… or in a very bad relationship… or the unfaithful type…_ It was a somewhat intriguing ability; she wondered whether it would have any effect on Misaka-san – and gulped down a breath of air to quench the sudden surge of heat inside.

"Ah… uhm…" The man was staring openly at Asanuma-san's chest. "Wha-what did you…?"

Asanuma-san didn't seem to think his behavior was irregular at all. "We _really _want you to show us around here." She drawled, batting her eyelashes.

Pearls of sweat were running down his temple, and he might just have developed asthma from the way his breath went rigid. "Ah, wait a sec, I'll check…" He pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt and called into it. Something sparked back. "Hey, it's Asano. Can I take ten minutes off? Ah, yes, I know, but…" He grimaced as the voice in the other end shouted something. Dropping his hand with the device to his side, his mouth was but a thin line.

"No good?" Asanuma-san asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't leave my post." He did in fact sound very sorry too. Guarding a spice research facility was probably not the glorious job he had looked forward to when graduating.

"Aah, no, and we came all the way from District 7 too!" Asanuma-san wailed. "And the teacher said to deliver the report tomorrow… what are we going to do?"

Kuroko was more or less amazed at the fact that she could even fake tears. She fought hard to give off a depressed expression as well, lest she gave them away. Though the guard was not even looking at her.

"Aaah, please, don't cry!" He said, raising his hands as if he wanted to console her.

"But we'll fail for sure!" Asanuma-san said, hiccupping cutely. "Our entire project relies on this spice research facility – and if even you can't help us out, who will?"

"Uhm…" The guard was hesitating. Staring at Asanuma-san's crying form with uncertainty written over his facial feature. Then he suddenly straightened up. "I'll take you on a small tour! It's not like this is a jail or a military base."

Asanuma-san brightened instantly, and Kuroko's eyes widened somewhat. _It was that easy?_

"However, there is one condition!" The man declared, making them both stiffen. Elegantly, he reached up and removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of blue eyes underneath – to any other girls, he might be considered handsome. These two were hardly the right targets for his manliness though. Looking right at Asanuma-san, he grinned cockily. "Please eat dinner with me later."

"Of course." Asanuma-san smiled. She was most certainly lying just to keep him on their good side. Though Kuroko would not be surprised if she _did _let him buy her dinner.

A small blush tinting his cheeks, the man turned around and said: "Then please, follow me."

Kuroko could hardly believe her eyes as he pulled out his card to open the doors in front of them. This almost seemed too easy to be true…

As they entered the building, Asanuma-san was hugging the guard's arm closely, and Kuroko kept throwing looks around them. There was a reception desk in the middle of the room, donned by a laptop. Along the wall to their left were couches and tables with a few magazines, like a visitor's waiting area in a doctor's clinic. Through the door right ahead was the corridor that, according to the map, would lead them to the labs and plenty of offices, and to their right, a door marked with the words "Authorized Personnel Only" blocked the way to the stairway to second floor, complete with a card reader and PIN code box.

Kuroko noticed a security camera just where Uiharu's overview had placed it, overlooking the room. The reception was otherwise empty; not a person in sight, not even the receptionist.

So they had successfully infiltrated the building (or rather just walked right in). Now what? _Even if he can lead us around the building, they wouldn't be keeping Hitomi-san anyplace where someone might accidently step into her._ Kuroko frowned, thinking.

"Where is everyone?" Asanuma-san asked in front of her.

"It's lunch right now, so the place is almost empty." The man said. "The cafeteria serves pasta bolognese on Wednesdays and it's really popular… even the bosses comes down from their offices to have a bite." He grinned.

Kuroko was surprised. _That's actually useful information. _There was nothing to lose by trusting this man's words; it was all she had to rely on. She followed the giggling pair of Asanuma-san and the man through another door, and then suddenly disappeared – her leave not noticed by any of them.

XXX

"All right, I've successfully made the camera in the hallway go into a loop." Kazari relayed into Kuroko's ear through the cell phone.

"Excellent." Kuroko teleported the last few steps up the stairs to the second floor and found herself standing in a spacious corridor. The floor was carpeted from wall to wall; it seemed like one of the new types of carpets she'd read about, which gave off a refreshing air to the room and literally cleaned itself. If she remembered right, it had been advertised for hotels in the city and the more well-fashioned dorms (like Tokiwadai's).

Apparently, they were also used in spice research labs. She didn't exactly mind though; the carpet muffled her footsteps effectively and helped her stay unnoticed. With the employees busily eating lunch, and the camera continuously showing the exact same image of an empty hallway thanks to Uiharu's interference, she could concentrate on searching the offices. With these conditions, she would not be exposed until someone took a closer look on the surveillance images and noticed they were being interfered with.

"There are card readers on these doors as well, but I have been able to disable them silently." Uiharu continued. "You should be able to enter all the rooms now."

"Good work, Uiharu." Kuroko said. "I'll call you back once I find something."

XXX

If _I find something. _Kuroko stood in the middle of an office, hands on her hips and looking over the huge desk and the bookshelves filled with books and folders. Yet even with all this, she felt completely lost. _If only I knew where to start._

After searching three whole offices without finding anything but boring graphs and reports about spice, Kuroko was starting to have her doubts. Were they really at the right place after all? And what had she been hoping to find in the first place? A convenient note lying about telling her where Hitomi-san was at? Some grueling print-outs with deals in human smuggling or drugs? Or a diary filled with confessions of breaking the law? Obviously, her lack of an objective was what hindered her from moving on. And this office was no different; not a single clue jumped out in front of her.

Appearing outside in the hallway again, she frowned, wondering if they had missed something in their search for clues. Could it be Branch V really was a mere spice research facility, allowing Atomics to use one of their labs for training or something of the kind? That would be plausible of course; in fact, that would the most logical conclusion. _But then why would they be so desperate to investigate the invisible robber case? Why would they show up at Tokiwadai to question Asanuma-san about him?_ She frowned. In the end, it didn't add up.

She was not about to give up and leave it to Anti-Skill to find Hitomi-san just yet either. With how slowly they were acting in these cases (if at all), they wouldn't find her before Christmas.

She looked at the last door on the other side of the hallway. The door plate on this office said 'Overhead researcher'. _If there's nothing in here, then there's nothing to find._ She opened the door and walked inside, closing it behind her.

The first thing that struck her was the complete chaos in the room. The desk alone was filled with papers and folders, and the bookshelves could collapse any moment from the combined weight of everything that was stashed into them. Like the other offices, this one too had the floor covered in the same dark red carpet. Still, even such an advanced carpet couldn't possibly make up for the complete lack of order in the room.

She sighed at the mess. _Even using print-outs; don't they have computers in this place? _She caught a glimpse of a screen on the desk, drowned in print-outs, and felt like she'd just travelled twenty years back in time. Even if she could find a computer though, Uiharu had already penetrated Branch V's firewall and checked their databases, finding nothing but legal, spice-related information.

So what was Kuroko supposed to look for?

Glancing at the papers on the desk with little hope left, she tried to come up with anything else they could try and check out. Her mind was completely blank though. _Unabara-san and Fasu-san might have brought Hitomi-san somewhere else completely… we are just grasping at straws here._ She sighed, and suddenly noticed a paper on the desk with something noted at the bottom in red. Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over and picked up the paper, which turned out to be part of a whole bunch of papers, and looked closer.

_'Periodic report regarding the Emphyzen spice.'_ She sighed. Skipping the tedious task of reading about some dry spice, she looked at the scrawling on the bottom of the first page, with a bright, red pen: _'Meet with Ryoko in lab 7 after lunch'_.

Her heart skipped a beat. _Lab 7, after lunch? Today, tomorrow, yesterday?_ It didn't really matter. It was as good a lead as she would get. _Unabara Ryoko. She really does have a link to this place._ Gritting her teeth again, she pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture of the scrawling in red. Her map didn't include a "lab 7"; only labs 1 to 3 was marked. Though the handwriting was nothing more than a scrawl, so it could be that the 7 actually was meant to be a 1. She'd have to call Uiharu. She turned towards the door, already looking up Uiharu's number, her hand reaching for the door handle; then she froze. There were voices outside, and they were coming closer.

_Shit!_ Looking around in a hurry, she noticed a small table beside the door, topped by a mountain of folders strutting with papers – and surrounded by heaps of books and papers. She stashed the cellphone back into the pocket of her skirt and dove towards the table, forcing herself underneath – even here there were tons of papers stashed, and she teleported some of them outside to make room and hopefully cover up her entrance. Whoever worked in that office wouldn't notice a misplaced pile of papers either way. That is, if anyone actually _did_ workhere. It seemed too messy for any human being to thrive. She just hoped the mess surrounding the table would help hide her from whoever might enter the room. It was too low for her to sit, so she tried to flatten herself to the floor. Laying like this she could barely see a thin stripe of the room between the edge of the table and the mountains of documents.

There was a beep from the other side of the door, and someone tried to open it – however, as the door was already unlocked before they arrived, their swiping the card actually locked it. There was an angry curse when the door refused to budge, followed by another beep, and then it opened – two voices entered the room.

"I swear, these cards get worn out after two swipes…" a man's voice muttered, feet walking over the carpeted floor towards the desk. Kuroko could barely see them from where she was hidden. She tried to still her breath lest they heard it.

His companion, a woman by the sounds of it (and judging by the high heeled shoes that seemed extremely uncomfortable to spend eight hours at work in), did not share his concerns."Honestly, you're letting Unabara-san use this place as her own playground." She huffed, seemingly displeased. "You ought to be a bit stricter with her."

"Aah, Ryoko-chan is a bit spoiled, but I don't have the heart to say no," the man's voice was light all of a sudden. It sounded like he sat down in the chair behind the desk; it squeaked. "Besides, we did promise they could use that lab for training; we have a contract with that faction, no?"

"That's not the problem here!" The woman screeched, stopping in front of the desk. "Why is she suddenly showing up here now? _That_ is the problem! The girl I questioned last night swore Unabara-san kidnapped some other girl – she might have brought her here!"

"Not to worry, Anita-chan," the man said calmly. "I trust Ryoko-chan knows what she's doing."

"Well I _don't_!" The woman shouted. "We're entering a very delicate period now – with what happened yesterday, something might – if that Child Error starts messing things up, we'll be in deep trouble!" There was a brief pause, and then: "And please tidy up your office, professor, I get a headache every time I see it!"

"More importantly, how is Gimei progressing?" The professor started rummaging through some papers on his desk.

The woman stood in front of the desk still. "We are still working on regaining his signals after the accident in the Garden of Education." Her voice had a sour undertone. "While he seems to be developing as we predicted, I fear we might have gotten more than we wanted with this 'live' experiment; he wasn't supposed to start doing these strange things…"

Kuroko's eyes widened.

The man sighed. "I guess he's a little unstable lately… we didn't foresee his ferocious hunt for middle schoolers…"

"It's quite disturbing that such a maniac is running around town causing havoc – if we're unlucky, _he_ might reveal us too! Even risking ourselves by relieving Anti-Skill of the right to investigate; we should bring him back in!" She seemed quite fired up. Kuroko's gut froze to ice though.

In contrast to them both, the man was perfectly calm. "You worry too much, Anita-chan. While the situation has developed, that's all there is to it. Anti-Skill is not about to arrest him anytime soon, and in any case, Academy City's database has him listed as having left the city. Even if anyone were to find him – which is highly unlikely, given his ability – they will have problems finding out who he is. Moreover, Gimei is afraid of other people… there's no way he would approach anyone."

"And still he's obviously been trying to do exactly that ever since we started this experiment: Gaining someone's attention." The woman sounded slightly desperate. "And the things he's doing is not normal either – that Unabara has something to do with it, I'm certain…"

The man sighed. "Now you're just guessing. In any case, he doesn't fit in the outside world and he knows it. In the meantime he'll be giving us valuable data and when we're ready to finish this, Anti-Skill will help us apprehend him."

Kuroko was feeling more and more nauseous as words spilled forth from these two people. _Using Anti-Skill like they're their own employees… experimenting on someone after manipulating their database profile… how is this even…_

"You're taking this way too lightly, professor…"

"In any case," the man continued, "his ability to blend into his surroundings is developing nicely. I am interested in seeing his withdrawal symptoms if we keep him off the drugs…"

"You only think about your own perverted curiosity, and not the safety of our lab!" The woman screeched. "Please show some responsibility, professor! If anyone finds out we're experimenting with Child Errors then we're –"

The man slammed a hand into his desk suddenly; even Kuroko winced at the sudden sound, though her mind was already shocked at what she was hearing.

"Why don't you shout it out a bit louder if you're so worried, Kagusa-san?" All the calmness was gone from his voice in an instant.

"Gh." The woman seemed rigid still, but stayed silent.

"It's not like the wrong people are going to find out." The man continued, softer now. "We're just a spice research facility, after all. We're doing our job, we're delivering monthly reports, heck, we're even progressing in that regard. There's no reason at all for anyone to suspect we have a connection to this 'invisible robber' or to any Child Error experiments – except those related to spice, of course. And even if they did, they can't do anything about it."

Kuroko was finding it hard to breathe. Was this whole branch just a hiding place for something so sinister as experiments on children? Her teeth gritted. Just because their parents had left them in Academy City and vanished without a trace – it did not mean nobody cared!

"That's why I'm worried when you're letting Unabara-san bring outsiders into this place so easily during our experiment!" The woman said. "How do you know she isn't bringing trouble?"

Kuroko was hearing nothing but the blood in her head now. She had to stay calm, but… this was just…

XXX

Kazari was still sitting in the library, doing her best to keep an overview on her breach into Branch V's network, the different surveillance cameras she had connected to as well as collecting information – all on a tiny 10 inch screen. It was a headache, to be honest. And while the processing power of the computer was quite up-to-date, it wasn't really designed for this kind of heavy work, and things were moving along at a sluggish pace.

Just now, it had hitched when she tried to enter a website.

"It's all right…" she soothed the machine and patted the top of the screen.

"Is petting your computer part of your _Judgment work_?" Someone said. Kazari jumped and looked up, meeting the strict gaze of Ruiko, who stood before her with hands on her waist.

"Saten-san…?" Kazari checked the clock on her laptop and found she'd been sitting here for two and a half hours. It was lunch-time already.

"Man, you just took off without warning." Ruiko sighed and plopped down into the chair beside her, leaving her school bag on the table. "And the teacher was all speechless too… before saying something like 'aah, Judgment is quite an honorable job – you should all learn from Uiharu-san!' and then continued like nothing had happened." She scratched her head. "I guess that means I should learn from you and skip class too?"

"That's not what -!" Kazari's cheeks were glowing all of a sudden, but she didn't know what to say to defend herself, and sighed instead. "I'm trying to find information on this research group… it seems like they're just a spice research facility, but it's involved in so many different things I'm starting to have my doubts…"

"Eeeh, really? What kind of things?" Ruiko reached into her school bag and pulled out her lunch – a sandwich from one of the vending machines in the cafeteria.

"Things like document frauds, suspected abuse of their test subjects – that would be children who are selected to participate in their extensive 'taste program', where they try to develop new spice tastes – and attempted bribing of high-ranking Anti-Skill officers…" Kazari summarized, gazing into her screen thoughtfully.

"Huuh, that's quite a lot." Ruiko said thoughtfully. "Spice research, eh? Sounds really boring. But wouldn't Anti-Skill arrest them if they're doing so many dirty things?"

"Well, a lot of this is just rumors." Kazari said, gazing into her screen again. "And a few cases has been closed before getting solved, according to the facts I've been able to dig up." Something suddenly landed in her lap – she looked down, and was surprised to see a wrapped-up sandwich lying there. "Eh?" She looked up at Ruiko, who was already biting into one of her own.

"What, you need to eat, right?" The other girl said in-between mouthfuls. "Honestly, you really need someone to look out for you – another hour or so and you'd be lying here on the floor completely passed out from lack of nutrients."

"I wouldn't starve just in a few hours…" But she smiled nonetheless.

"So?" Ruiko said, moving her chair over to take a closer look on Kazari's screen. "What are you gonna do, just sit here and watch? Someone ought to go there and check things out, right?"

"Shirai-san is already on-site, if she finds anything she'll give me a call…" Kazari wished they had the communication equipment from 177th branch, that way they could have stayed in touch all the time. But there was nothing to do about that now.

"Oh, is that her?" Ruiko pointed at the top-left corner of the screen, where one of the windows showing the view of a surveillance camera was partially hid behind her browser window. This camera was positioned at the front entrance of the building. And there seemed to be someone there.

Kazari clicked on it and brought it to the front of the screen, enlarging it somewhat to see better. The image was very pixelated and lagging from the round-about connection she had to the camera, so they couldn't really make out any details.

"It looks like a girl." Ruiko said, narrowing her gaze as if that would make the quality of the picture any better. "Or it could be a guy, if you look at it from this angle. Though, in that case I guess it would be a guy with a skirt."

"She's wearing the Tokiwadai uniform." Kazari said.

"You can see _that_?" Ruiko sounded surprised.

"It's not Shirai-san though…" Kazari continued, watching the images on the screen intently. She had witnessed both Shirai-san and Asanuma-san enter together with a guard about half an hour ago, and they hadn't been wearing their uniforms anyway. Could it be Unabara-san or Fasu-san?

They watched as the person seemed to examine something near the entrance. After a few seconds though, she straightened, and despite the flurrying film and the lagging pace, they could barely make out one hand moving towards her pocket.

"What's she doing, taking out her cell phone?" Ruiko asked, leaning even closer until her face was mere centimeters from the screen, and almost blocking Kazari's view.

There was a moment of sluggish lag again from the camera – and suddenly, there was a bright flash on the screen, and then the connection to the camera got severed, or perhaps the camera itself ceased to function – whatever it was, the window on the screen suddenly turned blank.

"What the heck?" Ruiko said, surprised. "What happened?" She looked at Kazari, but Kazari couldn't answer her. She had no idea.

XXX

The professor and his colleague was abruptly interrupted in their discussion – suddenly the whole building shook, a dull rumble reaching them from below, papers falling from their stacks. The woman screamed and fell to the floor; Kuroko could only see wisps of black hair beneath the arms covering her head.

A single sharp sound filled the room suddenly, before a lamp above the door started flashing bright red.

"W-what's going on?" The woman asked, sitting up slowly. "Is it a terrorist attack?"

The man pushed a mountain of paper off his desk and pushed the button on a calling system that was revealed underneath. "What's going on!" He barked.

A spray of static came out of the device, and then a terrified voice: "T-there was someone on the front door – they said they had an appointment with Kagusa-san, but there's none in her calendar. I refused to let them in, and then… ah, no, wait for me!" The woman in the other end squealed and then the communication was cut off.

Kuroko was tense, keeping her breath steady. Kagusa… she seemed to remember having heard that name before… or perhaps read it somewhere?

"Well, Kagusa-san, it seems like your predicted _troubles_ are coming true." The professor stood up and rounded the table, walking with a fast stride out the door.

"Professor!" The woman cried, before clambering to her feet and following him outside. Kuroko lay there breathing heavily, stunned into silence. Waiting for the voices to disappear down the hall, she finally moved to pull out her phone.

XXX

Ruiko was looking at the blank window on the screen. "Anyway, what now? Who do you think that was?"

Kazari typed a few commands into a separate program – though nothing happened. "The camera in the reception is not responding." She typed a new set of commands, and suddenly, another view popped up on the screen. This one was of one of the other cameras inside the building, near the emergency exit. There was a throng of diffuse people running towards it, and a red lamp on the wall was flashing.

"They're evacuating." She said breathlessly, while Ruiko observed the screen closely.

Kazari's cell phone jingled. "Aaah –" she pulled it out of her pocket and saw the ID – eyes widening, she put it to her ear. "Shirai-san!"

"Are you watching?" Kuroko asked urgently, still hidden beneath the table.

"Hai!" Kazari said, feeling even more up-beat now that she knew Shirai-san was still okay. "There was someone by the front entrance just now – they were wearing the Tokiwadai uniform, but the camera got cut off, so I'm not sure who it was… In any case, the alarms have gone off, and it seems like the personnel is evacuating." She changed the view to another camera on the outside of the building, showing the spiraling staircase from the emergency exit where unclear silhouettes of people were making their way down to ground level.

"The Tokiwadai uniform?" Kuroko frowned. _Coupled with that explosion… it can't be…_ "Can you tell me where lab 7 is?" She asked, teleporting out from underneath the table – it seemed hiding there any longer was useless.

"Give me a second…" Kazari typed rapidly on her computer, instantly bringing up all the overview maps of the facility and searching through them.

Kuroko teleported out into the hallway, looking back and forth, and seeing no-one. There was a flashing red lamp on the wall here too.

"I can't find it!" Uiharu desperately called into her ear a moment later. "According to the satellite images there should be another floor below ground floor, but I can't access any info about it at all. It might be running on an internal network."

"The basement…" Kuroko breathed. _No wonder. That's probably the _real _labs down there._ "Wasn't there a greenhouse at the lower back of the facility?"

"Hai, that's right, it seems to be attached to the building. Maybe you can access the basement from there; however the area around the greenhouses appears to be fenced in." Kazari was looking at the images of the area, and Ruiko sat beside her, gazing in astonishment at the screen of the computer.

Kuroko paused, thinking. A simple fence would not stop an esper; they probably had other safety measures as well. However with the ruckus downstairs, the personnel would most likely be occupied for a while, and there was no other clues… _Meet with Ryoko in lab 7 after lunch…_ She gritted her teeth. What kind of hideous nest had they uncovered?

"Shirai-san!" Asanuma-san was suddenly running towards her from the opposite direction of the stairs, startling Kuroko out of her thoughts.

"Asanuma-san! How did you get here?" She hadn't heard her at all before she called, thanks to the carpet muffling all footsteps.

"There's a staircase over at that end." Asanuma-san pointed back to where she came from, gasping for breath. "Asano-san – the guard – told me to escape and rushed off towards the entrance. It sounded like an explosion!"

Kuroko frowned. Then she decided. "Uiharu!" She called, startling the other girl ("H-hai!"). "There is something very wrong with this research group – I want you to dig up anything and everything you're able to find, be they rumors on the net or actual facts – everything! These guys are experimenting with Child Errors, and it's our duty as Judgment members to expose them."

"What!" Both Uiharu and Asanuma-san exclaimed in perfect symmetry.

"Also, it seems like our invisible robber is called 'Gimei'." Kuroko continued, not paying attention to the horror-struck face of Asanuma-san. "They said the database has him listed as having left Academy City – coupled with his supposed wavelength manipulation, it should be easy to find a match in our list of suspects!"

"Hai!" Kazari said.

"I leave it to you to expose this group and report them to Anti-Skill – no matter how small the fact is, make sure they get it. I will search the basement for any trace of Hitomi-san or our suspects."

"Roger that!" Kazari confirmed. The dial tone answered her next – Shirai-san had hung up. Kazari stared at the screen in front of her for a moment, the sloppy images of the employees evacuating through the emergency exit playing out in front of their eyes. In the quiet atmosphere of the school library, drama seemed very unfitting, yet the two girls sitting in this secluded corner of the room felt it as clear as day. _It was true? Those rumors…? _She could hardly believe it.

"Should we call Anti-Skill?" Ruiko suggested unsurely.

Kazari stared at the screen for another second. Then she turned to look at the other girl. "Saten-san, would you do me a favor?"

XXX

After hanging up, Kuroko turned to face Asanuma-san. The older girl stepped back a notch at the fierce expression donning the other's face.

"Asanuma-san."

"H-hai?"

"Do you know how to take pictures with your cell phone?"

The girl stared at her dumbfound for a second, then said: "Of course! What do you take me for, some stupid –"

Kuroko cut her off: "Then please, go into that office and photograph any suspicious papers you might find – if you're not sure, just photograph everything – and e-mail it to Anti-Skill." She pointed back to the office she'd just left.

It was not that she thought there would be anything in there. Rather, she wanted to get this person out of the way so she could move more freely. While Asanuma-san had been useful for getting inside the building, Kuroko still preferred working alone. Besides, the third-year would most likely be safe in there. The head researcher and his companion had probably joined the evacuation or headed for the basement to protect their data's; in any case, Kuroko planned to do whatever she could to solve this case right now.

"No way, that's dangerous!" Asanuma-san protested. "Shouldn't we get out of here? Obviously there's something blowing up or something; maybe we'll get caught in it!"

Kuroko gritted her teeth. "We have no time to worry about that!" She barked. "Don't you want to save Hitomi-san?"

"O-of course I do, but I can't do that if I'm dead!" Asanuma-san cried back.

"Just get to it!" Kuroko reached out to put a hand on her shoulder – when something suddenly smashed into her from the side, forcing her side-first into the office, and she hit the carpeted floor with a thump. "Guwah -!"

"Stay away from Asanuma-san!" Someone cried. A bookshelf by the door veered dangerously, before falling over, right towards her. She gritted her teeth and teleported away, landing in the middle of the room. The bookshelf smashed into the floor with a dull sound and scattered paper everywhere.

_I didn't notice anyone approach out there – and I can't see him…_ "Are you the one called 'Gimei'?" She called out.

"It's him!" Asanuma-san cried, still outside the door, but staring in with a terrified face. "It's that stalker!"

"Asanuma-san!" He cried, and a thick folder lifted from the floor and was thrown in Kuroko's direction – she tsk'ed and teleported out of its trajectory to stand in front of the desk. _This is no doubt the right man. What's he doing here? Did he see Asanuma-san and follow her? But in the first case, if he's here without Branch V knowing, that means… _She gritted her teeth. _This is my best bet! _It seemed like her travel to the basement would be delayed just a few more minutes.

"You are under arrest for assault and robbery!" She shouted, eyes glancing everywhere at once to see any sign of her opponent. "Cease all resistance and co-operate accordingly."

"STAY AWAY FROM ASANUMA-SAAAAAN!"

_There!_ The scream was just to her right; she teleported out of the way, pulling out a couple of spikes from the leather belts on her thighs.

_Though how do I do this? If I can't see him, I can't aim – the chance I'll miss is too high._ She didn't plan on taking such a risk. However, even a level four chameleon could not possibly stay invisible for an unlimited amount of time. _But if he runs away before that… then, to keep him from leaving…_

She drew a deep breath. "Asanuma-san is my girlfriend!" She said loudly. "If you want to have her, you'll have to beat me!" There was an angry roar from somewhere in front of her, and a muffled sound of stomping feet charged towards her.

"Wha – what the hell?" Asanuma-san screeched from the entrance.

_He won't be leaving any time soon now. _Something stepped on the paper on the floor to her left – she teleported herself onto the desk.

"Stop moving around, you jerk!" He yelled, and a whole stack of papers fell to the floor on a spot further down on the desk – _It's so obvious. _She grinned as she ran forward and stomped down on the approximate location of his hand, foot or whatever else might have cause that stack of paper to fall. Her heel hit something fleshy.

"GAH!" He cried out and for a second, shimmered into view – a guy maybe a few years older than her, forcefully dragging his hand out from underneath her shoe. She immediately turned and kicked him squarely in the chest, making him fall backwards and hit the floor, and roll over to get back on his feet. She teleported the spikes she was holding, but missed his shirt by a hair's width as he moved – then he disappeared again, and she lost track of his position.

She tsk'ed. _The carpet muffles the sound of his movements. I can't fight him like this. _Teleporting again, she landed beside a bookshelf, and put a hand on the wooden surface; the whole thing disappeared and reappeared in a corner, and the books and papers that had been stacked inside it scattered everywhere, obscuring her view for a moment. Luckily she saw the office chair that was coming her way, and she sidestepped, barely avoiding the twirling wheels. _Dangerous -!_

However, fallen papers covered nearly the entire floor now, and she could easily hear him running as the papers crunched under his steps. Judging from the sound and movement of the paper, she could guess his spot; and when he was just about reaching her, she dodged sideways, pulled out a new spike, and then turned and delivered a roundhouse kick to his back, sending him face-first into the wall. He once again shimmered into view, losing concentration from being slammed into the hard surface. She immediately teleported the spike, having it appear in the wood just a few centimeters in front of his face.

"If you don't surrender, the next one will be stuck in your body." She threatened, smiling smugly. He roared, and instead of hesitating like she'd anticipated, he suddenly crashed into her body in a tackle and knocked her to the floor, hands grasping at her throat.

"Die, bitch!" He screamed, his face twisted in a sneer.

"Shirai-san!" Asanuma-san cried from the entrance. There was nothing she could do to help, was there? Even if they did learn martial arts in Tokiwadai, far from everyone knew how to use it well outside gym classes.

Kuroko gritted her teeth and grabbed his hand, then teleported him into the air so he fell to the floor behind her with a thud – _Now!_ While he was still down, she rolled to her knees and grabbed for more spikes, and fumbled – _Stuck?_ Horrified, she pulled them out, too agitated to teleport them out of their sockets, and when she looked up, the guy was gone again, only crumbled papers showing where he'd been moments ago. _Crap!_ She stood up, and heard him to the right – lifting her arm, she blocked a punch directly with her wrist, and the spikes were knocked out of her hand and fell to the floor. Another attack followed before she could recover, his heel hitting her squarely in her abdomen – she gasped for breath as she stepped backwards to relieve the impact. She flung a hand out in his direction, but he narrowly dodged sideways and kicked her again in the back.

"Guah!" She fell forward, rolled over the floor and stood in one smooth move, the taste of blood tickling at her taste buds from a bit in her tongue. _This guy is strong in close combat, and combining that with this invisibility…_ She gritted her teeth again. Though she was proud of her skills in martial arts, there was no denying she was still rather small of stature and it was hard to fight someone whose movements you couldn't see. Her experience was limited as well, having only newly started doing proper Judgment work. _Not to mention I haven't even practiced once with these spikes…_ _how can they help me pin him down when I can't see him?_ All in all, too many factors were working against her in this fight.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes narrowed in concentration. He was charging towards her again, papers flying as they were stepped on. _I can't teleport too close to him, lest we end up splitting…_ Even a finger could kill you if it suddenly appeared inside your brain. And moreover, the rest of the hand, and the arm, would still be attached to it.

_So I have to take him down physically. _She tensed, hearing and seeing the papers crumble as he came in from her right side. What would he do? Punch, kick, tackle? Gritting her teeth, she dropped down and then leapt forward, hoping to hit his abdomen in a face-on charge – however both of his hands suddenly smacked onto her shoulders and forced her down. She hit the carpet face first with a thud; gasping, she ignored the dull pain and teleported to another part of the room before he could follow up with an attack. She was breathing heavily now, and feeling a bit dizzy as she leaned to the wall.

He was charging at her again, roaring in rage. She drew a deep breath; her head was aching dully. _Perhaps Misaka-san is coming this way…_ her fingers twitched, and she gritted her teeth. _What's gotten into me, relying on Onee-sama all of the sudden? Besides, I don't even know if she's here. _She couldn't come up with many more explanations for the person outside and the explosion earlier, but even if it _was_ her, to leave this to her… the mere thought made her pride bar its fangs.

"I don't need anyone's help to beat you!" She shouted at the flying papers and the guy that relentlessly kept defying her.

_I haven't lost yet!_

* * *

Note:

I am still working on my writing style… and my spelling… and my English in general… but never mind that; I love writing fight scenes with Kuroko! They are so complex, and she's not overpowered or too weak – it's just so awesome! *squeal*

By the way, this is one of the longest chapters in the story. Can a chapter become too long? As a reader, I'd have to say no, but on the other hand, reading 170 pages in one go would be kind of… and besides, the thrill of waiting another week is just sooo… the THRILL! IS! TOO MUCH! So I guess I'll go with "no, as long as it can be finished before I need to do something else", unless I suddenly decide otherwise. Hope you enjoyed it!

Words and terms:

_Gimei_ (偽名) = alias (false name); assumed name

_Usan_ = suspicious

**Next time: **"Du vet, jeg kunne drept deg nå om jeg ville."

_To Rob (since I can't answer through PM – again): _Thanks a lot for your effort in explaining the 11 dimension thing (this goes to everyone who bothered to write out an explanation of course), it is just like you say, interestingly confusing =P But I do have a much clearer grasp on it now than before. So thanks! Also as you probably guessed by now, you're right that English isn't my native language; so I'm happy to have any mistakes/weird things I do pointed out. Even if you're good in your second language, there are some things you can't really know due to how it's used in its origin country; it's impossible to learn it all without actually living there, I guess. You wouldn't believe how advanced I felt when I used the word "conspicuous" in the previous chapter xD (And there was a sentence in this chapter where I wrote that "Ruiko scooped her chair over" until I checked what "scoop" actually means and… I changed it. …just to be safe…^^;)

About "definitely" vs "definitively", my dictionary gives me the same meaning for both of them (which would be "definitivt" in Norwegian – I guess that's why I just naturally chose to use "definitively" – with the handsome _v_ and all). I guess the difference here is _when _to use it? In fact, until you pointed it out, I had completely forgotten there was a word like "definitely" (jeez, had I known earlier, I would have been saved so much spelling… xD). If you feel like trying to explain which word to use when, or their difference, I'll be happy to read, and if not, I'll probably try to find out on my own either way ^^

_To everyone else who reviewed and didn't get a personal answer back: _Thanks a lot for your feedback! *hugs and kisses to everyone whether you want it or not. It's safe, it's online.*


	21. Chapter 21: Mind Play

**Chapter 21: Mind Play**

The red lamp on the wall was flashing soundlessly; obviously her entrance had been noticed.

"Aah, I got a little fired up, sorry." Mikoto sighed and rubbed her neck. She was standing in the middle of the reception room, in front of the rubble that had been the door and the wall it had been attached to before she fired her railgun at it.

She hadn't planned to do it that way, exactly. She could have entered the building in a number of different ways. It might have been better to sneak inside, or make an appointment. _It's not like I didn't try something like that though…_

After having been lectured by the school board about how they would leave it all to Anti-Skill and so on, she had done a fine job of penetrating the firewalls around Anti-Skill's databases and Branch V's private network to scour for information. There was a row of cases in the Anti-Skill database where this Branch V was mentioned – child abuse, incomplete reports about their experiments, attempted bribing – and they were all locked without being solved. This, coupled with the fact that Branch V was present at Tokiwadai last night, led her to believe this place might be the right spot to start searching for clues as to what the hell was going on lately – and specifically, what had happened to Hitomi-san. However their private network yielded no results beyond the realm of spice research, which meant she'd have to go here herself to check things out.

So she told her teacher she didn't feel well and was allowed to leave for her dorm, and then tried to call the number on the business card she had been served last night by that lady (her name was Kagusa Anita, according to the card), but she had just hit voicemail. After waiting for close to an hour for the woman to call back, she decided to come here pretending to have an appointment instead – however the woman that answered the call phone outside insistently told her "Kagusa-san"had no appointments today. And when Mikoto tried to convince her, she was abruptly cut off.

While the electronic lock on the door was easily traversed, it was locked with some kind of mechanic lock too, and that left her with two options; try to sneak inside using another entrance, or use a little force.

And so, the door was broken. Frankly, they could only blame themselves.

"I guess I won't be able to ask nicely where Hitomi-san is…" She sighed while scratching her temple, one hand on her waist. A few terrified employees had squealed and ran off when she entered, so asking them was out of the picture either way.

She looked around the reception, seeing nothing that would make this place look like anything other than a perfectly legal research facility. They didn't even care to have proper security; was it really just an effort to look innocent? _Though there's really no reason to assume they're doing anything else than researching spice, so far. Even if they're acting really suspicious while doing it. _

Well, she wasn't here to uncover some secret conspiracy to take over the world or the like. As long as she could find out where Hitomi-san was, she'd have no problem leaving this place in Anti-Skill's care. In any case, even if she couldn't find a hint on Hitomi-san's whereabouts, she had a feeling she might find some other clues to this entire incident.

When she had just decided on her next course of action, a couple of security guards came dashing out the door in front of her and stopped abruptly, glaring at her with sweat shining on their foreheads.

"You have breached security, intruder! Lie down on the floor and put your hands on your head!" They might be grown adults and trained guards, even armed with stun batons and equipped with safety vests underneath their shirts, but this middle school girl had just smashed the entire front entrance without breaking a sweat; their nerves must be pretty strung up.

In any case, it seemed like they actually did have security guards. Mikoto gazed at them contemplatively. While she felt like the whole group deserved to be jailed up, there was still a possibility that not all of the employees were in on the dirty stuff. For instance, the guards might be leased from a security company, and not actually employed by Usan Research.

She sighed deeply. "Honestly, such a pain… I'd like to avoid fighting if I can help it though."

The guards gritted their teeth and pulled out the stun batons from their belts. The one at the front barked again; "You have been warned! Any resistance will be answered with force!"

She looked at him with a solemn expression. "Do you happen to know anything about a girl who was kidnapped? She might have been brought here." As if she was just a passing stranger asking for directions to the subway and not someone who had just broken into their building.

"Lay down on the floor!" The man commanded, raising his stun baton threatingly. His eyes were wide and shining with fear and determination both. Perhaps it was his first time facing any challenge at all in his job as a security guard.

Mikoto was hardly fazed. "What, do we not speak the same language?"

He stepped forward, shouting; "I said lay down on the – GUAH!" He was promptly interrupted as the baton in his hand suddenly exploded with electricity and knocked him out cold. Mikoto sighed again.

"That repetitiveness is just annoying." She looked back up at the other guard. "So? Do you feel like talking, or...?"

The remaining guard was shivering, clutching his baton desperately, though seemed very little keen on moving forward against her.

"P-please cease all resistance!" He stammered, the high-pitched voice hardly fitting with his tough-guy looks. "T-this thing shocks you with one million volts; you better –"

"Heeeh?" Mikoto gave a lopsided grin, which made him wince. "One million volts, eh, that'd leave a nasty burn if you're unlucky. But did you know even one volt could kill you if the current is right? Or wrong, depending on your viewpoint." She raised her hand and a _ZZAP _sound of an electric crackle left her fingers; the man whimpered and stepped backwards. "It is true higher voltage is more likely to hurt you, but strictly speaking it's the current that makes the difference." She continued, raising her hand higher. "If one volt travels through your heart, it's just as liable to stop as if it were a thousand volts." She scratched her head and gave him a nonchalant look. "Do you get it yet or do I need to cover the details?"

The man seemed keener on staying at a safe distance from her rather than indulge in conversation, as he merely stepped backwards again. He kept holding the baton in front of his chest as if it were a shield, hands shaking all the while (it was probably mere instinct).

"I-I'm warning you-!" He stuttered.

Mikoto sighed again; this guy was either very stubborn or just plain dumb. "Aah, I guess I'll just make it really simple for you." She put her hands back on her waist. "Do you want me to use one billion volts to take you out, or one?" She looked at him pointedly, wondering if he would take the hint now.

"Kh-kh—" He was obviously trembling now, gritting his teeth in pure fright. "K-khuaaaah!" With something resembling a war cry, his courage finally failed, and he turned and ran out the door and down the corridor with all the speed he could muster.

"Jeez, you make me look like the bad guy, you know?" Mikoto sighed as his footsteps disappeared down the corridor. Well, in any case, the annoyance was taken care of for now.

She turned toward the door on the wall to her right, which had been her initiate target before those guys showed up. She'd studied the overview map of the building before entering, but it hadn't had a convenient red arrow marked "look for clues here!" oddly enough. However, there might as well have been. There was one place not even her hacking skills could penetrate – and she'd bet her entire quota of game arcade coins she could find something in that place. Beyond this door was the staircase to the second floor – as well as the elevator to the basement.

_Authorized personnel only, eh…_

The door was equipped with a safety measure in the form of a card reader and code box; only those with the right entrance cards and the correct PIN would be able to enter. Theoretically, at least. Mikoto gazed at the device for a moment, analyzing the electromagnetic fields in less than a second, and then manipulating them with just as much ease. The door beeped open and allowed her to enter a short hallway with a staircase on the left – and the elevator right ahead. She walked up to it, seeing a similar safety measure as on the door.

_Sometimes they ought to rely on plain old-fashioned keys. _She sighed at the lack of challenge. Within a few seconds there was a small _ping;_ the elevator doors opened, and she entered. Using the same trick on the box on the inside, the elevator soon headed downwards, its top modern machinery not making any noise at all in its decent.

_They sure are paranoid though_. Mikoto gazed at the high tech security camera that overlooked the inside of the elevator. It was equipped with heat and motion sensors and could silently trigger the alarm if something was off. It was currently offline though, due to a disturbance in its power feed.

XXX

The basement was hardly what you'd expect; it consisted of tons of rooms, corridors and dead ends. Having no particular idea of where to go, Mikoto passed by several rooms, gazing into the windows to see whether they looked like a plausible place to search for clues. Most of them looked like hospital rooms or the like; a few were utterly empty, and some scattered with toys (which made her insides wrench with unease – she knew they used children in their taste development program, but still…).

She kept walking until her senses suddenly picked up a familiar sensation in the air; the workings of computers. It came from the room directly ahead, in the end of the corridor she was currently in; a pair of double doors barring her path. She walked up and touched them, and was somewhat surprised to find them unlocked. _Well, it's not like I'm about to complain… _She pushed open the doors and entered a new room.

The room was rather large, and looked like a surveillance room; on both sides the walls sported huge windows that showed empty rooms that would probably serve as test labs, and the computers in here were humming and buzzing, hooked to big monitoring machines. What was more interesting though, was the fact that there was already someone in here.

A man looked up from his frantic typing on a keyboard when she entered. He stopped and stared at her, quite obviously not believing his eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat, open at the front, his hair seemed unkempt and greying, and his face was cold and aging. A black-haired woman stood right behind him; Mikoto recognized her from last night, and frowned. In contrast, the woman's eyes grew wide when she saw Mikoto.

"M-Misaka-san!" She exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" The man shouted. "What do you think you're doing in my lab?"

Mikoto gazed at him. "This is your lab?" She threw a look around the room. Why would they be here while their colleagues were busy evacuating upstairs? Trying to secure their data's? It must be valuable data indeed. She wondered if it included the whereabouts of Hitomi-san.

"Don't you ridicule me!" The man spat, standing up so abruptly the chair he had been sitting in rolled backwards and hit the next table with a clatter. "What exactly gives you the right to force your way into this place?" His face was furious, his eyes livid.

"Ah? I didn't force –" Mikoto's comeback died on her tongue, as she realized she _had _just blown apart their front entrance. For a second, she felt guilty. _That won't look good later, will it? _But forget that; right now she had to serve him something believable.

"Aaah – I'm in Judgment!" She declared, putting her hands on her hips proudly. "Your dirty deeds have been sniffed out, mister! If you surrender right now, I'll make sure your arrest goes by without pain!"

"Judgment?" The man sneered, reaching behind his back – the woman threw him a glance and then screeched: "Professor, no -!" – But he had already pulled out his weapon, and aimed the gun directly at Mikoto, a furious look on his face.

"I won't let some self-justified brat come here and destroy my lifework!" He roared, and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot reverberated through the room; Mikoto didn't really comprehend what had happened at first. For one thing, nobody had ever pointed a gun at her before – the feeling was quite unsettling. No matter what level she was at, a gunshot would kill her if it hit the wrong place. She also wondered where'd he'd gotten that gun – guns were prohibited in Academy City, only Anti-Skill and certain other instances of law and force were allowed to wield them. Before she could process any of these thoughts though, the shot was already fired, and something zoomed past her midriff, pulling at her school jacket.

"Eh?" She blinked and looked down. There was a tear in the uniform right above her waist, as the bullet had grazed the lining and left a small wound in the cloth. A few more centimeters, and it would have hit her body instead.

"What…?" Shock settled in her system. _He… really fired. _Fear crept into her mind, and completely paralyzed her. The bullet had just been so fast; there was no way she could have dodged it. Even if she _did _feel it approaching, it had already passed before she could comprehend it.

That was her first reaction. And then, another thought followed the first one. _He fired, and missed. _Seeing his surprised expression as he stared at her and then at the gun, there was no doubt he had meant to hit her. He had actually tried to shoot her._ Just like that, he'd fire without even trying to talk? He'd fire, without a care for what could have happened?_

She gritted her teeth, and her hair fluttered in the static that suddenly erupted from her body, blue lightning crackling from her skin. The man and the woman both stared at her in terror, and then they scurried out of the way, stumbling over their own legs – the woman screeched as she tripped and fell to the floor, and the man tossed himself down right beside her, just barely avoiding the lightning strike that tore across the floor and hit the computer behind the one they had been sitting at. The machine made a loud whine and then exploded in a fireball that rose to the ceiling, and the sprinklers above them suddenly clicked to life, a fine spray of water pouring out of them in an effort to put out the flames.

"I'm sorry!" The man wailed, covering his head with his arms. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fire; it just went off!"

Mikoto didn't pay his words any attention, as scalding hot anger tore through her body, covering up the fear, electricity striking into the air all around her. She was barely mustering the presence of mind to control the currents, lest they tore up the entire room and killed those maggots. They cried in terror and got to their feet, stumbling towards the other door –

"Like I'd let you!" Mikoto roared, and they were both promptly electrified. Even without water to help the electricity travel through the air they would have stood no chance, and now, only more so. The two of them fell to the floor in a smoking heap, and Mikoto breathed deeply trying to regain her composure, water trickling onto her head in a steady stream, the electric currents calming down before dissipating completely.

The blood that had rushed to Mikoto's head slowly receded, though her mind was swirling with terror still – the tear in her school uniform felt as if it was searing against her skin. She straightened up and drew a deep breath. It had been way too close for comfort, but he had missed. She was still alive, and he was unconscious. No reason to panic.

The water was soaking her uniform by now, and her hair was already flattened by the drizzle. _I suppose hoping they were considerate enough to install a hairdryer in a convenient distance from this room is asking too much…_ she sighed, feeling her heartbeat slowly calm down. _And now I can't ask them about Hitomi-san either. Jeez. _She just had to go and knock them out cold. Why did it feel like she had been doing that a lot lately?

XXX

Kuroko reached out and grabbed a heavy folder of papers from the bookshelf on her left side, then turned and threw it with all her might in the direction of her opponent. Thanks to the numerous papers on the floor it was possible to determine his approximate location at least; however the folder was merely knocked away without doing much damage, and he was still storming towards her.

Kuroko gritted her teeth, teleported to the other end of the room and turned, sweat pouring down her face. Pulling out the last four spikes from her belts, she breathed deeply, trying to calm her mind. Asanuma-san was standing in the open office door nearly biting her fingers off in anticipation.

"RAAAAAH!" Kuroko's invisible opponent charged forward again, feet stomping over the papers on the floor, sending them flying in all directions.

_There._ Concentrating, she could imagine his feet in her mind, see where they landed, lifted, and landed again. _This is it!_ Eyes widening, she thrust her hands forward as if trying to blast the guy with a magical spell – the spikes disappeared from her hands and reappeared, one by one in a wobbly line, in the floor, passing through paper and carpet both – four in a row, and yet he was still charging at her with the same speed as before. _They all missed?_ She barely had time to be surprised before his hand hit her face squarely, and her back was forced into the wall. "Ack –"

"Got you, bitch! HAHA!" He punched her in the stomach, and she doubled over in pain.

"Shirai-san!" Asanuma-san cried again, nearly biting her nails over by the doorway. Kuroko coughed, saliva filling her mouth. _Spikes…_ But as she grasped for more spikes, her fingers hit nothing but air; the leather belts were empty. She had tried too many times, and dropped too many spikes in the fray.

"Haha out of ammo! You lose!" The guy pulled her forward by her collar and slammed her into the wall again; she winced as her head hit the wood and bursts of stars filled her vision. Forcing one eye open, she glared at the air in front of her where his face should be. The only thing she could see was the other end of the room, as if he wasn't there at all. His hand was real enough though, gripping around her throat, and she was starting to feel dizzy. She looked sideways; and suddenly she saw it. Just within her reach. A last glimmer of hope.

_Now… concentrate…_ while her right hand shot up and grabbed his wrist, her left arm flung out over the wall, grasping for the metal object. The guy laughed wildly, but she ignored him, concentrating intently on that one thing – _there!_ Her left hand tightened around the spike. While any severe distraction would usually hinder Kuroko from using her ability properly, something as simple as this minor pain was not enough to make her waver. She could continue the fight long after being injured; she was able to ignore pain to impressive lengths. And doing just that, as well as quenching the insecurity and the swirl of thoughts, she forced her mind to relax – and teleported the spike out of the wall.

Then her cocky opponent was suddenly in the air again, and his invisibility once again came off as he hit the floor harshly, revealing a shorthaired guy with a crazy look on his face.

Holding the spike in front of her, Kuroko gazed at him with burning determination in her eyes; blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, her newly bought clothes ruffled and worn and her body sore and tired.

"I got you… jerk." And she teleported the spike directly into his right hand.

"AAAAH!" He screamed and trashed, but his hand was stuck to the floor, and he rolled over, grasping his wrist with his left hand, crying still. Kuroko stepped forward and gazed down at him mercilessly. Her breathing was harsh and her body hurt, but she was strangely calm.

"This," she said, "is what awaits those who go against Shirai Kuroko."

XXX

"Heh, I knew it."

"Huh?" Mikoto looked up at the sudden voice and was faced with two girls standing in the doorway on the other side of the room, safely out of range of the water sprinkling from the ceiling. One was tall, with her brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and the other was slim and elegantly poised, long, black hair falling around her shoulders, a small smile on her face.

"Unabara-san and Fasu-san…?" They were both wearing the Tokiwadai uniform, so there was hardly any reason to ask. The questioned stemmed from her surprise over seeing them here.

"Such a flashy entrance could only be the ace of Tokiwadai, Misaka Mikoto the Railgun." The tall Unabara-san grinned. "Why would you take the trouble with coming all the way here? Don't tell me it was just to have fun with these morons?" She threw a haughty look at the unconscious forms on the floor, still smoking despite the water soaking their clothes.

Mikoto gave a slight smile, ignoring the cold tremble in her body. "Heeeh. You know, I was prepared to have this turn into a total miss, so it's pretty convenient to have you suddenly show up. Maybe you'll be nice enough to just tell me where Hitomi-san is too." She wouldn't mind avoiding any more confrontations. While she never lost confidence, that gunshot had definitely shaken her insides up just a little.

"Oh, so that's it? Come to get Hitomi Aika, have you?" Unabara-san said smugly. "The high and mighty Railgun-sama coming to save a poor little girl on a glorious white horse." Mikoto frowned; but the third-year suddenly huffed. "As if!"

"Hah?" Mikoto asked, puzzled by the sudden change of tone.

The older girl sneered. "Oh, _come on._ Don't tell me that's actually your reason? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Heh." Mikoto stomped down her annoyance with an easy laugh. "For carrying out a kidnapping right in front of someone else you don't really give off the impression of a genius."

"Oh, so you've found Reiko." Unabara-san tsk'ed. "That airhead just had to intervene right at the end."

"Well, you didn't exactly try to hide her, Ryoko." Fasu-san said, her pleasant voice calm and level. She looked over at Mikoto. "However with the fact that you came this far looking for her, I suppose it means _somebody _didn't do their job right yesterday…"

Mikoto gazed back at her solemnly. She had never even heard Fasu Niba speak before, only ever seen her and Unabara-san walking side by side with Asanuma-san in the halls of Tokiwadai, throwing haughty looks everywhere. In any case, with them showing up here, there was no doubt to her she was at the right place.

Unabara-san sighed. "He said he'd knocked out the pursuers, but seems like he failed to mention just _who _the pursuers were. Honestly, he's so useless." She scratched her temple tiredly, looking let down.

"Where is Hitomi-san?" Mikoto asked, not caring much for this kind of small-talk.

"My, you sure are impatient." Unabara-san sighed, looking back up at her and putting her hands on her waist. "I've always gotten the impression you're a calm person." Suddenly, she grinned. "Did you really show up at that facility yesterday without being able to take out Gimei?"

Reminded of her failure back there, Mikoto felt a stab in her chest, and gritted her teeth. Her patience was already running thin. "If you won't tell me where she is, I'll just tear this place apart and find her myself!"

Unabara-san merely kept smiling. "Yes, of course you will. That's how Academy City's number three deal with all kinds of problems, isn't it? By blowing them up." She tossed a meaningful look at the unconscious forms on the floor and the wrecked computer on the table.

"Wha – if that's what needed to –"

"Isn't that just a grotesque instinct you can't control?" Unabara-san asked, still smiling.

There was another stab in her chest. "S-shut uuup!" She screeched, and the electricity lashed out around her, wildly smashing into the monitors and computers; small explosions racking the room and smoke collecting by the roof despite the drizzling water. Breathing heavily, a last few sparks left her temple. Then her eyes widened suddenly. _Did I just-? _

"I rest my case." Unabara-san said, and she looked up again; the girls were still standing by the door, and just as she watched, a sheet of glass melted back into the form of a window in the door beside them. _They shielded themselves…? _Glass was an insulator, and of the right thickness it could easily stop an electric charge.

Somehow, this made her even more furious. "Stop beating around the bush and tell me where Hitomi-san is!" She commanded. Water drizzled everywhere, dripping from her bangs and uniform, but those two by the door was still dry and smug.

"Hitomi-san, Hitomi-san, is that all you care about?" Unabara-san said, removing her hand from the door. "I know you play the sweet, innocent girl at school, but your real colors are quite different, neh?" She grinned down at her, annoyingly confident. "You don't need to keep up the charade here. Be honest; you're not actually concerned about Hitomi-san, are you? You just saw the opportunity for tossing your powers about for a bit, didn't you?"

Mikoto gritted her teeth again, refusing to bite at her bait."Why did you even bother showing yourselves? Were you planning to just stand there and chat?" She forced out a small smile. "Are you stalling for time, or trying to avoid a fight?"

"And what are you going to do about it if we are?" Fasu-san suddenly asked. "Are you going to attack us next? My, the Railgun turns out to be quite amusing." She hid a small giggle behind her hand.

"Haah—" Mikoto gave a deep sigh, even though the annoyance was building up in her chest. How come these guys seemed to be more interested in being irritating than actually _do_ anything? "Why are you making this so difficult? You've already been exposed; there's nothing to gain from being stubborn."

"To be honest, I've always been interested in finding out what kind of person you really are." Unabara-san seemed annoyingly amused, and continued to ignore her queries. Her grin was nauseating. "You just don't give the proper vibe of a high level esper. You always seem so cheerful and carefree; yet, despite being one of only seven level fives in Academy City, and really popular at our school, you're still as lonely as the most hated cockroach. Does that never bother you?"

"Gh—" Mikoto bristled, gritting her teeth even harder.

"Being at the top of the food chain brings its own troubles, Ryoko." Fasu-san said pleasantly. "I guess you would have to be pretty hard-headed to cope with it."

Unabara-san grinned even wider. "Yet there's no way she hasn't noticed." She said. "People are scared of coming too close, and the only ones who take the chance are those that want to bask in the glory of her status." She kept looking at Mikoto, grinning steadily wider. Mikoto's chest tightened up, as if she couldn't breathe properly. "All the smiles, greetings, friendly chatters – it's all fake, and you know it." The other girl continued. "Yet the only thing you can do is play along and smile sweetly. All that stress and anger building up inside every day, every time you see carefree friends enjoying their time together, lovers sharing a kiss or holding hands, classmates having a friendly, _real_ chat, and knowing _you _won't ever have it because of your own ridiculous power level… It must be frustrating, neh?" Her grin was showing of all her teeth now.

Mikoto was shivering all over. Even though she was cold from the water pouring out of the sprinklers, the air in her lungs felt as hot as fire. Her hands were so tightly fisted her knuckles were starting to hurt.

Unabara-san continued on: "In desperation, all you have left is your own power – to destroy. Letting your anger out on random misfits in the back alleys of Academy City, leaving them knocked out on the ground – and in the end, it only serves to scare people even more; in essence creating a wheel of misfortune you're unable to break out of."

"Stop –"

"Ah, but you can't deny it, can you?" The other girl smirked. "Even now, you've wrecked half of this facility within a few short minutes and even knocked out the top bosses without a second thought. It's in your very genes! And for what? You say it's for saving some girl you can't even call your friend – you know it yourself; she's nice to you because that's the kind of girl Hitomi Aika is – nice to everyone! But if you don't do this, people will look at you and be disgusted; they'll say that even though she has the power, the ace of Tokiwadai doesn't even try to help her own classmates. It's almost enough to pity you."

"Stop saying those random things!" Mikoto shouted, electricity popping around her in pure agitation. The only reason it didn't travel along the water drizzling from the ceiling to electrify everything around her being she consciously held it back. No matter what, these two were still the closest thing she had to a lead on Hitomi-san's whereabouts. If they did force her to knock them out though, she'd gladly tear apart the rest of the building to find her.

Unabara-san gazed at her with a humored smile. "They're not random at all. Can you honestly say you have even one true friend?"

Mikoto's eyes widened. It felt like someone had just driven a nail right through her heart. _Even… if it's only one… _her breath hitched. A face flashed by her mind, and her gut clenched; _…I even called her my best friend, yet… _That stupid underclassman, she wasn't quite sure where she had her. One moment she'd be calling her a moron and act totally annoying, the next they'd have a somewhat normal conversation. But was that really how a friend was supposed to be? Was she just like all the others, in the end? Why had she gone and said such an embarrassing thing in the first place! And why was this jerk trying to put her off by bringing it up?

She gritted her teeth again and clenched her hands, shaking all over. Her head felt like it was close to burst open; electric currents emitted from her temples in furious charges.

Unabara-san grinned contently. "I can see it in your eyes – how you'd like to strike us down with your electricity. You can't fight it; you'll always lose to the instinct in the end. No wonder people are scared."

"Ghh—" Electricity continued to crackle around her. She was so mad it felt like her head would explode any moment, and she tried to force herself to calm down. "If you're finished talking now, I'd like to move onto the main topic." She said levelly, her entire body strained in trying to keep herself still.

Unabara-san's smile only widened even more.

"If you won't answer me, I'll just force the answer out of you!" Mikoto yelled, the calmness gone in an instant, and electricity striking into the walls around her.

"Oh yes, I suppose you will," Unabara-san said, while Fasu-san lifted one hand in her direction, "then let's see you try, little Railgun-sama."

Suddenly, a light erupted in front of her eyes; it shone with a force several times that of a floodlight, and filled her line of sight with a blinding flash – Mikoto shadowed her face, but it was already too late. The flash lasted only a second, but it had the same effect as a stun grenade. _Guah – I can't see!_ She desperately blinked her eyes, but there was no way to make the whiteness go away; she was totally blind. She heard footsteps up ahead and aimed her lightning attack in that direction, but the feedback told her she hit the wall.

Laughter flowed back to her ears as it disappeared down the corridor; she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes shut. Even the inside of her eyelids were white as day. Of course, she could still sense her surroundings, but taking on two obviously high level espers while unable to see was stupid no matter who you were.

She lowered her head and waited for the whiteness to subside. _Trying to put me off with those things-! _She seethed inside, her teeth gritting, yet her gut was coiling uneasily as well. _As if I'm… it's not like I don't have friends,_ _it's just that – they get bullied for being close to me. How can I let anyone experience that? It's better for me to be alone!_ She couldn't really blame anyone either; her ability development had just seemed to shoot past everyone else's. She'd always felt detached from the rest of her class, even in elementary. The few friends she did make seemed so brief, like just a passing thing. Of course they'd be…

Something wet ran down her cheek, different from the cold water sprinkled from above. She furiously wiped her eyes, forced herself to draw a deep breath, and slowly tried to open her eyes. It was still brighter than normal, but at least she could make out her surroundings. That was good enough. She moved on to the door in front of her, ignoring the knocked out forms on the floor and the tremble in her limbs, determined to keep going. _They can say whatever they want; I'm still going to get Hitomi-san out of here._

XXX

Kuroko collapsed to her knees, finally able to gather her wits and heave for breath. Asanuma-san entered the room at last as well, warily approaching them.

"So, you are Gimei." Kuroko said in-between breaths. Every bone in her body was hurting, but she knew she was merely bruised. Bruises such as these would not stop her.

The man was still grasping at his nailed hand, crying openly. Having a spike stuck in your hand probably wasn't the most pleasant of feelings, though Kuroko had been hard pressed; she didn't want to risk him being able to continue the fight.

"Where is Hitomi-san?" Kuroko asked of the crying guy. She could ask him several things – about the robberies, about stalking Asanuma-san, about Usan Research and his role in this place – however all that could wait. Right now, finding Hitomi-san was top priority. She could not count on Misaka-san to solve everything, assuming she was even here.

However, the man merely cried and ignored her question completely. Kuroko sighed and rubbed her chest to appease some of the pain; Asanuma-san gazed at her for a moment, before kneeling on the floor beside the man and leaning forward over his body.

"Kino…?" She said softly, and the man almost instantly stopped fidgeting and turned towards her voice. Asanuma-san pulled back slightly, hesitated a bit, and then went on: "Kino, you remember me, right? Please tell me where Aika is."

Kuroko looked at her in surprise. "Kino?"

"Asanuma-san…" The guy said, his voice a lot calmer now. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "It hurts…"

"I know, but you have to help me." Asanuma-san said, leaning forward again. "I need to find Aika. I promise it will all be better afterwards."

Gimei bit his lip and clenched his eyes shut, shivering. "Ryoko… Ryoko told me."

Asanuma-san looked surprised. "Told you what?"

"She told me I should stop doing whatever they wanted… she told me I could be like everyone else, I could get a girlfriend, like Asanuma-san…" Gimei gasped for breath, while Asanuma-san's eyes widened. "She said I should give you presents and show you I was a real man… she said you would like me if I helped you be re-elected."

"So it _was _you who sent me those things…" Asanuma-san seemed quite disturbed.

The guy whimpered; "I love you…" His left hand reached up to stroke through the dark hair that hung past Asanuma-san's face. "I love you…"

Asanuma-san gritted her teeth.

Kuroko looked at this display in shock. "Asanuma-san… you know this guy?"

Asanuma-san sat back, but kept gazing at the man. Her face was twisted in a grimace. "I did." She said; her voice was trembling slightly. "Kino was one of Ryoko's friends at Jousei Care. I have not seen him in four years; I thought he left Academy City. However…"

Kuroko's throat thickened. "They took him here…" Having his profile in the database changed and then using him for experiments… How was this even possible? It shouldn't be possible! She felt revolted, to say the least. If this place burned to the ground, she would not shed a single tear. Rather, she would laugh with joy. This hunt for finding Hitomi-san had helped them uncover a hideous place – it was disgusting beyond anything she had imagined.

Asanuma-san gritted her teeth and bent her neck downwards. "This is not Kino at all… it's not… it's just… horrible…" Her shoulders shook.

Kuroko was too shocked to say anything. She'd never imagined anyone could manage to pull of something like this; it seemed impossible that something like this could happen in Academy City. She gritted her teeth, feeling a rage grow in the pit of her stomach.

"Were you the one who made that bus crash on purpose as well?" She asked at last, sounding surprisingly calm despite the feelings burning inside.

"Ryoko… Ryoko…" the guy muttered, staring dazedly into the air.

Kuroko snapped. "You better tell me right now!" She roared above his face, still on her knees. "Did you steal from countless citizens and injure our students in a traffic accident? Were you the reason two girls were almost hit by the bus, giving Onee-sama no choice but go to the trouble to blast the bus off the road? DID YOU KIDNAP HITOMI-SAN?"

He shrunk away from her, though not too far, since his hand was still stuck to the floor. She wanted to grind her fist into his face and dig out some answers from his very brain. But she knew what the answer was. This guy was obviously unstable; judging from Asanuma-san's words, he wasn't acting normal at all. Most likely he would be easily influenced to act in any way as long as he believed it would make Asanuma-san fall in love with him. Perhaps the only thing you'd need to say was something along the lines of "unless Asanuma-san is re-elected, she will never love you; let us make her foul opponent retreat by showing them how serious we are…"…or perhaps it was enough to tell him how Hitomi-san was Asanuma-san's girlfriend, make him jealous?

Her hands fisted themselves, shaking with straining feelings. So who was to blame for all this?

The name formed in her mouth on its own. "Unabara-san…" Everything tied to her. Everything.

Gimei merely continued to cry. Asanuma-san stared at him for a second, before she turned her gaze to Kuroko.

"Shirai-san, something is very wrong here. I can't… I can't believe Ryoko would ever do something like this; putting her friends in danger, using Kino like this – that's not how she is!"

"There is no doubt she is doing it, though." Kuroko said, still gritting her teeth. "How would you explain all this if she's not the culprit?" _And how can you still call her a friend?_

Asanuma-san's gaze turned even more serious if possible. "There is no doubt Ryoko is doing it. But… Ryoko is a kind and caring person. Though she might seem prickly and cold on the outside, she always did her very best to please those she cared for. If you ever saw her with the children at Jousei Care, you'd see what I mean. It's so sweet it's almost sickening!" She shuddered, and looked back at Gimei; the guy was still crying, soaking the papers beneath his head. Her face grew solemn again. "No, this is impossible. It's not her."

"In that case, I assume you have an explanation." Kuroko said, settling back and trying to calm down. She hoped the other girl wouldn't start rambling about some evil twin or something of the sort. That might very well make her snap.

Asanuma-san turned to look at her; she had a determined look on her face now. "This is Atomics' doing."

Kuroko stared at her, wondering if she'd gone mental. Even saying Unabara-san had a split personality disorder would have made more sense. "How on Earth –"

"I think those girls have something against Aika!" Asanuma-san rudely interrupted her. "There is no secret Aika doesn't care much for them; I think they are the ones who would want to get rid of her!"

"I might understand that if you were saying Unabara-san and Fasu-san was working for the faction, however where in this setting does Unabara-san's apparent irregular behavior fit in?" Kuroko asked, expecting a rather incredible explanation if there was one.

Asanuma-san drew a deep breath. "There is someone in our school who has the ability to influence people's minds," she said, "someone who can even control people's actions. That person has been influencing Ryoko all this time, making her do these things, I am certain of it. Atomics has a lot of her followers in it; they could easily ask her to help. It is the only explanation."

"And who is this 'someone'?" Kuroko asked dryly.

Asanuma-san looked squarely at her. "The level five with the ability called 'Mental Out': The Queen of Tokiwadai."

Kuroko looked at her for another moment. "Eh?"

XXX

There was something up ahead; she could see the light from the sun. _Outside?_ Still wet, cold and slightly shook up, Mikoto stepped through a doorway, and found herself in a small room with measurement instruments and computers, like the observation room she'd been in earlier. It was separated from the next room by metallic plates and windows, easily allowing the light inside.

Looking into the next room, she realized it was indeed still inside; the surface she was looking at was glass. The walls, the floor, the ceiling – it was all made of glass. Like a giant, empty greenhouse. The outside was hard to see due to the thickness of the glass, but she was certain what was filling the room with light was the actual sun.

There was nothing else stationary in the main room. No computers or machines or monitors. There was, however, someone on the middle of the floor, someone who was bound and gagged and hunched over.

"Hitomi-san!" Springing forwards, she forgot all caution as she reached the blonde girl. Hitomi-san looked positively frightened, and mmpph'ed something through the gag in her mouth.

"I'll get you out, don't worry…" Mikoto placed a hand on the gag and was surprised; it was made of glass as well. "How…" There was no doubt an esper who was the culprit behind this. Someone who could manipulate glass? Her eyes widened. _Unabara-_

"Right into the trap!"

She turned around, electricity already sparking from her bangs, and the floor around her wobbled and suddenly shot up into the air. She stumbled backwards, crashing into Hitomi-san, and watched in rising horror as the glass around them formed a cage – an airtight cage of glass as thick as an arm and no bigger than a couple of meters across. It was barely big enough to allow her to stand upright beside Hitomi-san.

"No way…" She breathed. Her electricity wouldn't be able to affect the thick glass by itself. She would have used iron sand to slash it apart, but there was no ground to extract iron from here; it was all glass. Gritting her teeth, she dug a hand into her pocket and pulled out a coin, aimed it at the glass wall in front of her and –

"Woah, you really gonna do that with Hitomi-san so close?"

The brown-haired girl was suddenly standing beside the cage, grinning smugly. Mikoto's eyes widened, the electricity around her dying down – as the blood that had rushed to her head subsided, she could hear the terrified whines of Hitomi-san at her back. The cage was too small for her to fire a railgun without risking to hurt Hitomi-san in the process.

She was sweating all of a sudden, her eyes huge with horror. She'd acted on pure instinct, and even a second later, it would have been too late – in her haste of destroying the cage, she hadn't thought about Hitomi-san at all. Then what could she do? They were trapped. Her only means of getting them out was restrained by the size of the prison. If she took the chance and fired anyway, and Hitomi-san was hurt…

Her arm fell to her side, the coin hitting the glass floor with a plinging sound. Her chest felt constricted and she found it hard to breathe.

"I knew I was right." The brown-haired girl said confidently from outside the cage, muffled by the thickness of the glass between them. Mikoto could barely hear her at all, yet her words still reverberated into her mind. "Faced with an obstacle, you instinctively turn to destroying whatever bars your path – regardless of who might be hurt."

_That's not true!_ She wanted to scream it out, but it hurt in her chest – hurt, because that was exactly what she had been about to do. _Is that really… how it is…? _She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, shoulders tensing in a sudden sob.

"Awww, did I hit a nerve? Haha!" The girl outside the cage laughed. "Look at Hitomi-san, so terrified. You really think she's happy you're here? You, who are a danger to your own surroundings?"

Her words stabbed Mikoto harshly in the chest, yet she couldn't move at all. Couldn't open her mouth to yell back. Couldn't turn to look at Hitomi-san. _No wonder people are scared…_

"Mmpph, mmmmmpph!" Hitomi-san could say nothing else. Mikoto didn't know what she was trying to voice. Her head felt heavy, as if it was filled with too many things. She was cold, and her body shook.

"You know, I could kill you now if I wanted." The voice continued. "I could make the glass walls crush you to death, for instance. But I like taking things easy; after all there's no rush... so, how long do you think there will be enough oxygen in there for the two of you?"

Mikoto sank to her knees, feeling completely burned out. If she'd been alone, something like this wouldn't hinder her at all – but with someone like Hitomi-san here as well...

"What'll you do, Railgun?" Unabara-san laughed. "No-one's coming to save you, you know. It's all in your hands!"

* * *

Note:

What's this? Mikoto's point of view! Oh my, how did this happen? At first I was a bit reluctant at doing it, but I feel like it is important to understand Mikoto's side of things as well. Aaah, my perfect "Kuroko and Kazari's point of view only" is ruined! Can you ever forgive me?

This chapter is heavily inspired by the Railgun manga (especially chapter 34 I think). It was hard to write - every word seems to count just as much, and I tried my very best to create the exact mood I wanted to have. I wonder if I even succeeded, after working with this thing for 8 hours today... (I would like to say I need a hobby, but this _is _my hobby xD). I was having a bit of trouble with the timeline as well, as Kuroko's confrontation with Gimei and Mikoto's adventure into the basement happens simultaneously (the start of this chapter takes place right after the 'explosion' in the last chapter). Timewise I wanted to put the end of the fight together with the part where she tries to interrogate Gimei, however I thought about the cliffhanger from last time and… tried to make a glorious middle way. I think it came out allright? Maybe?  
Though I am certain I could still make changes here and there, I don't really know if it would be better or just different. And if I don't post it now, I might be stuck trying to figure out how to make it perfect, which would be impossible. So I leave it up to you to decide; if you like it, or feel something was off anywhere, please let me know!

Now, I could write a page or two about this topic, but to make things comprehensible; what would you want next? – **A:** one looooong chapter (10,000 words +), or **B:** two normal length chapters (5000-ish)? (As a pointer, this chapter counted 8000 words. It's even longer than the previous one.)  
One loooong chapter _may _result in a slightly slower update and of course in the completion of the story one chapter faster, and it might be a long read, but whether that's bad or good is up to you, I guess. Two normal length chapters would make me able to work more on part 2 after reading the reviews on part 1 (which would most likely lead to it getting longer, for good and worse), and would probably be easier to read. As the author, this is what I would choose. I think. And then again, maybe not. I dunno. Which is why I'm asking in the first place. One or two?

Failure to collect a coherent solution to this question within the timeframe of when the next chapter is posted will result in major brain wrenching and possibly coin flipping to decide the outcome (and not the kind that is followed by a beam of light; though it would be rather awesome if that happened - and seriously frightening!). Normally I wouldn't ask, but I thought long and hard about it and in the end decided to give the ones who are reading this thing a chance to decide. It's like democracy; somewhat effective as long as people care to vote. And just like in democracy, you don't _have _to vote. You are of course welcome to voice your opinion about the chapter even if you can't be arsed to care about this huge problem which will not be a problem at all once the chapters are posted, at which point you may ignore this entire note and keep on reading ;) And even if you can't make up your mind, rest assured that I will flip that coin and the chapter(s) _will _be posted.

(I rewrote this note to make it shorter, but somehow ended up making it longer… I think I've found the core problem in my writing style… hmmm… *deletes the rest of the story* Oh, look: It's much shorter now!)

In other news, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Next time: **Kuroko is still the main character.

_To Rob (once again): _Thanks again! Don't worry, I'm fairly confident in my English, but I know there's room for improvement, and the only way I can learn now is, I think, by having people point out what could be worked on. I appreciate it! The "fabric" thing is definitely one of those things I probably would have never known about. As of the moment, I'm working on the flow in my writing, hopefully making it more of a pleasure to read. I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!


	22. Chapter 22: Showdown

**Chapter 22: Showdown**

"You're saying the Queen, Tokiwadai's other level five, is controlling Unabara-san's actions?" Kuroko questioned critically, retying one of her pigtails that had nearly come out of its ribbon. Gimei was sitting on the floor holding his bleeding hand while Asanuma-san tried to create a makeshift bandage from a shred of cloth that she had ripped from her shirt with the help of one of Kuroko's spikes. Currently, all of the spikes were back into their place on Kuroko's thighs.

"I might have never met her, but I do know of her tactics. If she can get what she wants, misusing her ability to this extent is not beneath her." Asanuma-san said, wrapping the cloth around Gimei's hand. "And please do not misunderstand; I'm not saying Ryoko is a poor, innocent victim or anything. But I do know her – she's been my best friend for six years." She paused for a bit, looking at her work of tying up the cloth. "When I think about it now, back when she joined the student council, she was already changing…" Her brow furrowed. "She's been acting increasingly sketchy the last few weeks, and with what has happened lately, I can't help but think she's being influenced somehow."

Kuroko sighed. _Honestly, as if we didn't have enough suspects already… _She knew very little about 'the Queen' other than what little she had seen of her fans at school; apparently they had quite the rivalry going on with Misaka-san's fans. _Why would she call herself 'Queen' in any case? She must be an ojou-sama of galactic proportions._

In any case... "You completely failed to mention this earlier, didn't you?"

"You didn't ask either!" Asanuma-san bit back. "Besides, even if I did say it, you would probably just blow it off! I know how incredible it sounds, but it makes no sense otherwise! Ryoko would never do this of her own free will!"

Kuroko gazed at her, contemplating. What little she had seen of Unabara-san so far hadn't given her the impression of a kind, caring and child-loving girl. Then again, she already knew of one instance where the image put up in front of their students at school and the true personality hardly matched up. But did that necessarily involve some outside interference?

She sighed again and put her hands on her hips. "Then, what about Fasu-san?" She asked, just to hear how sound her reasoning was. "Surely she's not being controlled by that _Queen_ as well?"

"I wouldn't know." Asanuma-san admitted, looking uncertain. She let go of Gimei's hand, and the guy cradled it into his chest with his other hand. "Fasu-san transferred to our school late in first grade and immediately joined Atomics. Ryoko somehow befriended her, and Fasu-san talked her into joining too… but they both quit the faction when joining the council, of course." She lowered her gaze, seemingly staring into the floor. "Fasu-san has been saying some pretty awful things about Misaka-san too…"

Kuroko watched her solemnly. If _awful _meant something that could outshine the things Asanuma-san had managed to spit out for herself, it must indeed be horrible.

She rubbed her temple, feeling like was going to have a headache. "Assuming you are correct and someone _is _influencing her, since you have jumped straight to accusing the Queen, I assume you already considered the possibility of anyone else being the culprit?"

Asanuma-san pulled back slightly, obviously put off. _She didn't, _Kuroko thought dejectedly. However, the third-year insistently countered; "T-then, who else could it be, _Miss Genius_?"

Kuroko sighed overbearingly and put her hands on her hips again. "Assuming there is something off about Unabara-san's actions, there is no doubt it is most likely caused by a psychic ability." She reasoned. "However, though there are several psychic ability users in Tokiwadai who may all be able to influence a person to a certain extent, few if any are on the level of skill required to pull something like this off over such a long period of time." She let out a shallow breath. "The most logical conclusion would be that someone close to Unabara-san has been pulling the threads all the time. However, Atomics is a substance based faction, no? That is, its members can manipulate a substance in some form or other." She looked at Asanuma-san for confirmation.

Asanuma-san stared back, slightly confused. "Yes…"

"Then, unless one of them can directly influence the substance of someone's brain in a way to manipulate their actions or something similarly incredible, there are no grounds to believe any of its members is doing this either." Kuroko put a hand to her chin and furrowed her brow. She was really just thinking out loud now. "This also excludes Fasu-san from the list of suspects, since she was a member of Atomics, and therefore obviously met their criteria. Unless there is a way around that?" She gave a pointed look to the former student council president.

"There is no way around, the criteria are very strict…" Asanuma-san said, thoughtfully. "All members of any faction are known to the student council, and all applications to join a faction go through a thorough check to avoid any spy activity or something of the sort."

_As expected of Tokiwadai._ Still, Kuroko had to admit she was slightly surprised. However, this only reinforced her train of thought. "Coupled with the fact that no-one can possibly have two abilities, the only conclusion would be that this is happening from a distance. However, to be able to influence someone over such a long distance and over this long of a period of time, you would have to be exceptionally powerful." She put her hands on her waist once more as she drew up her conclusion. "Basically, there is no way anybody could pull this off except a level five psychic."

"Then why are you quarreling about it!" Asanuma-san cried, just about growing desperate. "You just said it yourself: There are no other likely suspects!"

Kuroko raised her chin. "I have no reason yet to believe Unabara-san is not acting on her own will. Furthermore, I fail to see why the Queen would bother to be involved. What could possibly be her motive for kidnapping Hitomi-san?"

Asanuma-san bit her lip tightly. She seemed rather uncertain despite her apparent conviction.

Kuroko let out an exasperated sigh. She wasn't annoyed at Asanuma-san, per se, but at this situation as a whole. _What a mess..._ "In any case, if there _are_ other people involved in this, we will surely find out." She couldn't be bothered to try and figure it out right now, nor to contemplate whether Asanuma-san actually had a brain that was capable of processing all this in the first place. Why those two girls would kidnap Hitomi-san, whether the Queen directly or indirectly controlled Unabara-san's actions or didn't at all, whatever role Fasu-san had, and where in this mayhem Atomics and Usan Research Branch V fit in…

"It can wait; having that knowledge does not gravely impact our current situation. For now…" She looked at Gimei again, who seemed quite detached from their conversation and merely looked off into the air, spaced off. "Kino, was it? Or Gimei?" The guy jolted at her mentioning his name, and his eyes darted all over her face, before he stared at the floor. He cradled his hand just a bit tighter.

"You said lab 7 is the greenhouse in the back, right?" Kuroko asked.

"Hai…" He muttered, and shot a look at Asanuma-san, who was watching him solemnly.

"In that case…" Kuroko smiled slightly, "I'm off to finish this."

XXX

The air was growing thicker and harder to breathe in by the minute. Yet the two occupants of the glass cage had no way to avoid breathing. At least they were calm; the oxygen would have depleted all the faster had they been acting hysterical, crying and shouting. For a student at the elite school of Tokiwadai, basic knowledge like this was a matter of fact.

Still, the situation wasn't looking all that bright.

_Are they really going to let us suffocate in here?_ Mikoto stared unseeingly at the glass in front of her, breathing slowly. The air was heavy, and she was cold; the water from earlier had yet to dry up, and her body was shivering now. Sitting still like this only made it worse, yet she couldn't muster the energy to stand up and move. She had curled up instead, arms wrapped around her knees, eyes dazedly watching the thick glass in front of her. _Perhaps they'll only let us pass out, and then bring us into the facility, where we'll become guinea pigs for some sick experiment… _The thought failed to produce any reaction in her body. _Aaah,_ she thought, _I've become a passive, iron-hearted villain…_

"Are you just going to give up?" Unabara-san was squatting outside the glass, glaring at her face.

Mikoto didn't answer; she didn't even try to form a coherent thought on the subject.

"Why don't you fire a railgun at my face?" The third-year suggested, using her finger to trace a small circle on the glass between them. "Sure, Hitomi-san might die, but isn't that better than both of you dying? And even if people would hate you afterwards, there's no reason for you to care about what people think of you, is there?" Her words sounded like she might be ridiculing her, however her tone and expression was still just as serious.

Mikoto said nothing. Her head was so heavy, and she couldn't open her mouth to talk even if she had wanted.

"Let's see who's faster, eh?" Unabara-san put her palm on the glass. "Can you fire before I pierce your stomach? Maybe you'll bleed to death before suffocating." She smiled. "Come on; pick up the coin."

There was nothing to say; there was no thoughts inside her head that could be transformed into words. Mikoto was not even looking at her, concentrating on her breathing.

Unabara-san sighed deeply and let her hand fall away from the glass. "Really, and here I was having high hopes for you. Maybe I was wrong after all." She sounded disappointed, somehow. "I guess you're feeling pretty useless by now. Even though you're a level five and oh so powerful, you can't do shit in this situation." She looked at her again. "Well? Do you feel useless?"

Mikoto's hand twitched.

Unabara-san suddenly gritted her teeth and banged her hands against the glass. "Answer me, you prick! You _should_ feel useless! You _are _useless! Unneeded, unwanted, and just in the way for your God damn parents – _USELESS!_" She banged her fists against the cage, the dull sound reverberating through the glass. She was breathing heavily, glaring at Mikoto through the prison walls, but Mikoto still didn't meet her eyes.

It looked like Unabara-san might snap completely right then and there, but then the other girl was there, the black-haired Fasu Niba – she walked up behind Unabara-san, and the ponytailed girl seemed to calm down a little.

"Heh, I guess she's broken down." She stood up, turning halfway towards Fasu-san. "What's so special about this brat anyway? It doesn't matter how powerful you are if you can't even free yourself from something like this."

The other girl answered, however she was standing too far away for Mikoto to hear, and the voice was just a muffle through the glass.

She didn't listen anymore either way. _Yeah, maybe I am useless. A useless fool._ More than anything, she regretted running right into the trap so easily. It should have been obvious; yet she didn't even care to stop and think before rushing over to Hitomi-san. Honestly, she'd never expected anyone to be able to trap her like this – she'd never even considered it. Who the heck would consider something like this to happen at all? Her arms tightened around her knees. _I can't believe I'm so stupid! Someone please slap me hard in the face!_

"It is quite amazing," a slick voice said, "seeing the Railgun so helpless, one really has to question oneself who is the strongest of Tokiwadai's level fives." Fasu Niba was standing right outside the glass, looking down at her with a content smile.

XXX

Kazari was sitting in front of her five-screen monitor work space in Judgment 177th branch. After asking Saten-san to make up a plausible excuse for their teacher, she had been able to leave school to go to the office, where she could work much more efficiently. During the brief time she had been there, she had already been able to find a lot of new information. Amongst other things, she had found the real identity of the man called Gimei. Apparently he was called _Yuudoku Kino_, and his ability was called _Sound Mimic_. It seemed like Shirai-san had been right in her suspicion.

Speaking of Shirai-san...

"What?" Kuroko's voice answered the phone urgently. Kazari found it a relief the other girl picked up at all. Shirai-san had called just a few minutes ago to give an update, and Kazari had gotten the impression she actually had no time to talk and just wanted to get a few answers. She went through a series of information checks to find some more clues, not knowing whether she would be able to relay them to Shirai-san at all. But in the end, it would be best if they were all updated on what was going on before rushing ahead.

"I found what you were asking about!" She reported, looking into the screen right in front of her. "Atomics has indeed been living well on the decisions made by the student council in your school this past year. While they are a rather large faction with 23 members, it seems just too much compared to other factions, and a lot of indirect bonuses have been striking them as well. Do you think they're influencing them somehow?"

There was an exasperated sigh from the other end. "I don't know. The possibility is certainly there though; kidnapping Hitomi-san in order to ensure Asanuma-san's election seems to be their motive, though for what reason is still unclear."

"Aaah, by the way, I checked those two's database profiles, and found their abilities." Kazari said, bringing up the profiles in question. "Unabara-san's ability is Liquid Glass, level four; she's able to manipulate any glass she touches."

"That explains the mirror..."

"What?"

"Ah, nothing - and Fasu-san?"

Kazari looked over at the other profile. "Well, it's called Flash Light, and is a level three ability... it involves redirecting light and creating blinding flashes... err... do you need the details?" There was a lot of heavy terms used in the database; she had barely seen it when Konori-senpai showed her this weekend, and understanding it all in a few minutes was too much even for her.

"No thanks, that is quite enough." Kuroko said. "In any case…" There was a second's pause, and then she continued: "You said you met Unabara-san at Jousei Care, did you not?"

"Aah, hai!"

"What was she like?"

Kazari remembered that tall Tokiwadai student that seemed to radiate maturity, and her insides squirmed around. "Aaah, the aura of a proper lady~" she squealed, "she was so elegant, so beautiful, so caring, soooooo—"

"Ah, that's fine, thank you." Kuroko dryly put an end to her daydream. "Did you find anything else of use?"

"Aaah, hai!" Kazari said, snapping back to reality surprisingly fast. "About Yuudoku Kino, I called Anti-Skill, and the officer I spoke to told me the handbags that Anti-Skill confiscated after the bus incident on Monday did indeed hold his fingerprints. He is no doubt our invisible robber. Though they have been unable to do anything since the case was transferred to Usan Research." The officer had seemed quite tired of the entire mess. And of course she had asked what Kazari was doing when she should be at school, but Kazari had insisted this was more important than classes.

"Honestly… will they even be any help to us at all?" Kuroko sighed.

"Come on, don't be so stingy." Kazari twittered. "Anti-Skill is already on their way to round up the evacuating personnel, but they need proper evidence before doing anything else, so I'm trying to pile together a heap of information and send it to them…" A cup of steaming tea was placed on the desktop in front of her, and she looked up in surprise. Ruiko smiled down at her, and Kazari found herself beaming back.

"I see. Good work, Uiharu; please keep it up. I am going in now." Kuroko said shortly.

"Aaah, Shirai-san please don't do anything reck—" The_ beep _signaling an ended call cut her off. Shirai-san had hung up. "Mou, she's too rash." Kazari sighed, leaning back into the chair with a huff.

"At least she took the time to talk with you at all." Ruiko said beside her. Then she put her hands on her waist and said strictly: "Now you take your time to drink up your tea as well, or I'll confiscate your computer mouse."

"Hai, hai…" Kazari leaned forward and picked up the cup. "Anyway, Saten-san, you didn't have to come here too…" she felt kind of bad for dragging the other girl with her over to the office. Well, in fact, Saten-san had been the one to drag her out of school.

"Of course I had to!" Ruiko looked at her as if she was missing the entire point. "I told Daigo-sensei you were gravely ill and I had to follow you home; of course he asked me to take care of you." She raised her chin proudly. "That's something only a true friend would do!"

Kazari couldn't help but smile. "Thanks a lot, Saten-san."

"No problem. By the way, you should probably stay home tomorrow as well."

"Eh, why?"

"I said you have an upset stomach; you wouldn't want to infect the entire school, would you?"

"But I'm not really sick!"

XXX

Kuroko put her phone back into her skirt and looked down. She was standing on the roof of the Usan Research Branch V facility building; the ground behind it sloped downwards before flattening out. Right behind the facility was a big greenhouse stuck to the wall; Lab 7. The entire area was fenced in with a concrete wall, then barbs and electric wire.

_For researching spice they sure are careful._ Kuroko frowned. While she still did not know their suspects' exact circumstances, she was at least certain what she had to do now, and prepared to do it. Uiharu would handle Anti-Skill; Kuroko would handle the situation at hand.

She looked down at the greenhouse below her. The glass was so thick it was hard to see anything inside.

A slight smile formed on her lips. _They never anticipated anyone to enter from the top, did they? _Not wasting any more time, the teleporter made her move.

XXX

Unabara-san was talking again, but Mikoto couldn't make out her words anymore. She kept staring dazedly ahead, her head growing heavier and heavier by the minute.

How much air was left? Ten minutes? Five minutes, four? She had no idea how much they started out with in the first place.

_Are they really going to… _Her mind was swirling in an uncomfortable blur. Whenever she tried to think, it felt like the coldness seeped into her brain and paralyzed it.

Maybe she would pass out any moment. Maybe they would...

Her cold fingers curled just slightly.

"Oh, do I see your resolve settling in?" Unabara-san grinned down at her, her fingers resting lightly on the cage wall. "But what are you going to do? There is no way you can get both of you out unhurt." As if to underline the statement, she put her whole hand on the surface of the glass.

_I don't… _Mikoto wanted to cry. _I don't know…_ Something clasped around her heart like a vice, sending her thoughts into disarray. She wished all this would just go away. She wished she'd never run into this trap. Wished she could make sure Hitomi-san got out unscathed. Wished... She hid her face into her knees.

"ONEE-SAMA!" A sudden cry; even through the thick glass it was rather audible.

Mikoto's head shot up, eyes widening. _What…?_ Blurred from the glass and the distance but still somewhat distinguishable, that troublesome pigtailed girl stood. _Kuroko!_ Mikoto's chest soared and constricted at once. _Why is she…?_

The word left Kuroko's mouth before she had even thought it. Having teleported into the greenhouse and down to the floor, she had been completely put off by the scene in front of her. _So it _was_ Onee-sama who made all that racket! _Yet, how had it ended up like this?

"What the -?" Unabara-san turned around and stared at the first-year with disbelief written over her entire face.

"Oh my." Fasu-san said, turning to look as well. She was smiling slightly. "It seems like we have a visitor."

Kuroko shook off her surprise and straightened up proudly. "This is Judgment!" She announced with a resounding call. "You are under arrest!"

Her words pierced through Mikoto's chest like a pole. _Judgment…_ Suddenly, she felt a lot heavier, and the warmth that had filled her chest transformed to ice cold rocks within a heartbeat. _Of course, it's Judgment…_ Her gaze was swimming; she felt unwell.

Unabara-san's face cracked into a giant grin. "Ahaha, no way, you're fucking kidding me!" She smacked one hand to the floor, and the surface beneath Kuroko's feet convulsed – she teleported directly into the cramped space of the glass cage, determined on freeing the two inside before doing anything else. She could barely fit inside, but as long as the two of them didn't move, there was no danger to her appearing in their close proximity. The air inside was really thick, the oxygen obviously running low; she grabbed both Misaka-san and Hitomi-san by the shoulder and then teleported all three out of the prison.

Misaka-san looked close to exhausted where she sat on the floor, gasping down air. For some reason she was all wet, but she seemed unhurt otherwise.

Kuroko teleported away the gag and bindings on Hitomi-san, and the blonde girl drew a deep breath of air. "Ah, I'm so happy!" She smiled up at Kuroko. "Both you and Misaka-san – I never dreamt you'd come for me!"

"Asanuma-san is here too." Kuroko said, for some reason compelled to tell her.

Hitomi-san's eyes widened slightly, and then her smile turned tender. "Really…"

"Save your chatting for a tea-party!" Unabara-san yelled; she was charging towards them, a glinting piece of glass in her hands taking the form of a rectangular shield. It looked like it strapped itself onto her arm by forming around it, and it was easily large enough to cover her entire upper body.

Kuroko turned to face her fully. "This is your last warning!" She declared. "Cease all resistance at once!" She was surprised at her openly hostile nature though. _Is she just initiating a fight with no plan ahead? _

Mikoto got to her feet behind her; she seemed a bit unsteady though. Kuroko would not let her get any more involved if she could help it, and flung out an arm. "Onee-sama, stay back!"

"You think you can fight me alone?" Unabara-san roared.

"I will not have civilians involved in this!" Kuroko declared. _And I am more than enough for you!  
_

"You're a funny one!" The ponytailed girl stopped and smacked one hand to the floor again, and the surface below their feet made another strange wobble. Mikoto stumbled backwards; Kuroko quickly grabbed Hitomi-san's collar and teleported. The floor they had been standing on shot up into several spikes one moment later; Kuroko saw it from her new position. _That's a dangerous move!_

"Hitomi-san, stay here!" She barked at the blonde girl.

Unabara-san laughed; she was charging at Misaka-san, and the second-year's bangs emitted blue charges now that the fight seemed imminent – Kuroko gritted her teeth. _I couldn't keep her out of it after all. _In any case, there was no way Unabara-san would be a match for Onee-sama. This fight was already over.

But just as she thought that, a bright flash – like a blast of light – appeared in front of Misaka-san's face. Wincing, she clenched her eyes shut, and stumbled backwards; her electricity effectively interrupted in the process.

"Fasu-san!" Hitomi-san shrieked.

_No way-!_ Kuroko turned her head and saw the other third-year; she was standing some distance away with a pleased smirk on her face and one arm outstretched towards the duo. _I forgot to watch her movements!_

Unabara-san didn't seem to be bothered by the flash in the least though, and she leapt forward at Misaka-san, the glass shield already transformed into a solid spear, which she swung at Misaka-san's head with all her might.

Kuroko was just thinking she should take care of Fasu-san, when something completely unexpected happened: Misaka-san was hit. Unable to see, and already unsteady, the spear struck her head from the side. She grimaced in pain, stumbling sideways from the blow and barely staying on her feet – but before she could refocus, Unabara-san continued her swing from the first attack and turned a complete 360 degrees, and with a fierce cry delivered another strike – and with the added centrifugal force, this one was easily twice as powerful as the first. The solid mass of glass struck Mikoto's temple with a sound that nearly reverberated through the room.

"Gh–!"

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko cried, turning fully towards them.

Mikoto hit the floor side first, but the force of the strike was so great she rolled over the surface and ended up lying face-down.

Kuroko's eyes were huge, and terror tore through her chest. _What the – she was hit? _It had happened so fast, in the blink of an eye. One moment, it was obvious Unabara-san would be electrified, the next, Misaka-san was struck down instead. It was unreal, as if she was being played a trick. If someone would jump out and tell her "smile, you're on candid camera!" she would have been relieved. This was just… she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands tightly, shoulders rising almost to her ears. _I didn't act quickly enough!_

"Come on, was that all?" Unabara-san bent down to put a hand to the floor, spear still in hand. "You didn't even get to try and electrify me. Though I guess you would have missed either way, being blinded and all." She was directing her words at the second-year, but Misaka-san didn't answer; in fact, she didn't move at all. A fine sheen of glass formed around her arms and feet, keeping her trapped in place.

Kuroko kept staring at her still form; she couldn't see her face from here,but she might very well have been knocked right out. A nauseating feeling clawed at her chest. To take out an esper, a blow to the head was the most logical course of action, and Unabara-san must know she stood no chance against the Railgun; her resorting to that kind of move was proof of that, risking her own safety by dealing an open attack. Still, to strike down the third strongest level five… no matter if they had been co-operating; it just wasn't supposed to happen._ It was a severe blow, wasn't it? Even if I get her out those shackles, will she be able to fight? _Her heart was beating quickly in her chest.

She refused to let the insecurity grip at her though. Even if the ace of Tokiwadai was unable to move, Shirai Kuroko was a formidable opponent on her own. If they insisted on fighting, Kuroko would be the one to stand up to them; Onee-sama should never have been involved in this in the first place. She clenched her hands even tighter, resolve filling her chest.

"Shirai-san," Hitomi-san whispered, "are you okay?"

She must have noticed the ruffled clothes and darkening bruises all over Kuroko's body.

"I am fine." Kuroko said back, without turning her head. "Did they do anything to you?"

"No, they didn't do anything…" Hitomi-san said lowly, "Unabara-san said they just wanted to 'rile things up' a little… they didn't even bind me until a few hours ago."

_Rile things up? _Kuroko thought angrily. Those _things_ had grown completely out of control!

Hitomi-san gazed at the scene in front of them. "To be perfectly honest, Unabara-san seems to be acting quite peculiar… her intentions are very unclear."

Kuroko gritted her teeth in anger and determination both.

"All that level five glory is just piss talk, isn't it?" Unabara-san scoffed, standing up; the spear still in her hand. "Being put off by a flash of light like that only proves she's still a sissy little girl. Even if it's only a few seconds, it's more than enough time to make the difference in a fight." She swung the weapon up to rest on her shoulder and looked down at Misaka-san with a smirk. "No matter what you do, she won't be able to help you. Besides having her skull cracked open, she's just realized what a piece of useless shit she is, and lost all her fighting spirit. Sad, isn't it?" She threw a humored look over at Kuroko.

Kuroko's insides were aflame with anger. Straightening up, she announced: "Anti-Skill are on their way! It would be most benefitting for you to cease resisting!" There was no way for her to know whether Anti-Skill was actually coming, but she put her trust in Uiharu's evidence collecting. If they could be convinced that Usan Research could not possibly investigate all this due to their obvious involvement in several serious issues connecting to it (like Gimei), Anti-Skill would have grounds to move. In any case, the doubtful activities of Usan Research Branch V, the invisible robber incident, and the kidnapping of Hitomi-san were different cases. Even if they couldn't act on one or two, they might be able to act on the third.

And if they against all odds couldn't act at all, Kuroko would just have to do the dirty work for them. _Avoiding a fight would still be for the best though… _She doubted there was any way to talk them out of fighting now, however.

Unabara-san snorted, pulling her left hand through her fringe with a calm confidence. "What's that; scare tactics? Come on, you think we'll just lie down and obey you?" She smirked again, a haughty glint in her eyes. "You've already seen us take down the pride of Tokiwadai; do you really think you'll be any different?" She threw a look of contempt at Misaka-san, who didn't even twitch. "There's no use trying to bide your time anyway. She won't be able to help you like this."

Kuroko's insides were boiling, yet her mind stayed surprisingly calm. "You might want to see the whole of a situation before deciding for yourself what's going on." She said, her voice steady like a cliff. "I am not here to plead Onee-sama for help – I am here to stop you from _hurting my __**FRIENDS**_!" She cried the last words out, and fire erupted in her chest.

Unabara-san grinned at her, gripping her spear with both hands as she turned fully towards her. "Aren't you feisty? Then please, _entertain me for a bit_!" She dashed forward.

Kuroko teleported; landing at Unabara-san's side and grabbing her shoulder as she charged past. Within a heartbeat, the third-year found herself six meters up into the air. _There are two opponents, but Fasu-san's ability seems to be limited; it can only blind, yes? _She would just have to place her bets on that. _I'll just take Unabara-san out quickly, and then Fasu-san will be no match to me!_

Unabara-san let out a surprised sound, but the glass spear she was holding was apparently flexible; the weapon shot forth into the floor and halted her fall by merging with the glass there.

Kuroko gritted her teeth. _That's annoying – in this room she's got glass all over!_

The longhaired girl slid down the glass pole and kicked off against the surface to jump at her before she reached the bottom, ponytail flying; Kuroko evaded to the side, and Unabara-san hit the floor, forced down on one knee. Kuroko turned on the spot to kick her head, but a wall of glass shot up in her path, and her attack was halted when her foot hit the hard surface instead. A painful jolt shot up through her leg, and Unabara-san grinned; Kuroko merely gritted her teeth and teleported to the other side of her opponent, reaching out to grab her shoulder _–_ but was met with a fist to her solar plexus before she could even touch the fabric of her school jacket.

"Guwah-!" Her eyes widened, and she stumbled backwards, her abdomen flaming with pain.

"Don't tell me this is all you've got!" Unabara-san yelled; she was grinning again. A new spear was growing out of the floor under her other hand, and she stood up while Kuroko tried to regain her breath. "It's way too easy to read your moves!" She pulled the weapon loose from the floor as easily as if they were two separate objects to begin with, and swung it around.

Kuroko gritted her teeth, thinking rapidly while clutching her stomach._ She's adept at close combat, as expected. But she's not invisible; really, this shouldn't be too hard… I still have my spikes too. In the worst case scenario… _There was no doubt she could win against this spear-wielding girl one way or the other. _I just need to –_

There was a shriek from Hitomi-san; Kuroko hurriedly turned her head and saw Fasu-san grappling with the blonde, trying to get a hold on her.

"Hitomi-san!" She couldn't let them use Hitomi-san as a hostage –

"You fool!" Kuroko turned back, and just barely avoided the spike shooting out of the barricade Unabara-san had blocked her kick with earlier; the tip of the spike grazed by her upper arm, leaving a small wound on the skin. She winced; then the elbow joint on her other arm exploded in pain, and her eyes widened; Unabara-san had just swung her new spear and struck her from the side.

"Gh-!" Kuroko managed to stay on her feet, stepping sideways and back, once again facing her opponent. Unabara-san followed up her first strike with a second one, swinging the spear down from above. Kuroko gritted her teeth and teleported, appearing above the other girl and striking her neck with the soles of her feet; Unabara-san stumbled forwards, but managed to put her spear down in front of her to stay on her feet. Kuroko gritted her teeth. Had she appeared higher up, her strike would have had more force. She teleported again and reappeared on the floor some distance beside the older girl, breathing heavily, face sweaty.

_I can't continue in this manner._ She was spending too much energy and it was not yielding any results. What reserves she had replenished after the fight with Gimei was rapidly diminishing. _I need to approach this from a different angle. _

"You really think you'll achieve anything by acting like an annoying mosquito?" Unabara-san was facing her again, swinging the spear around with a _swosh_ sound, the tip pointing at the floor beside her. She seemed annoyingly frisky still. "I could have killed you a couple of times already."

"Heh. What's the use coming with those kinds of threats?" Kuroko smirked. "It's really just convenient for you that we're in a glasshouse." In the corner of her eye she could see Fasu-san wrenching Hitomi-san's arm to her back in order to restrain her.

Unabara-san snorted. "Are you mocking me? It's no coincidence at all. This place was constructed purely to test my ability. When I realized Miss Railgun here had shown up, I made a strategic decision and placed my bet on her will to save Hitomi-san – to think it actually worked." She stood proudly; her tied-up hair and tall posture giving the odd impression of an ancient, spear-wielding samurai.

"You sound awfully confident there." Kuroko continued to smirk. "However, are you sure it was _your _decision and not Fasu-san's? Or better yet, the Queen?"

Unabara-san's eyes widened, and then she roared in rage and leapt forward, swinging the spear upwards in a diagonal strike – Kuroko teleported to land beside the pair of Hitomi-san and Fasu-san, surprising them both.

"What –" Fasu-san started, but she had no time to say anything else before she suddenly found herself several meters up in the air, and falling gracelessly.

"Fasu-saaan!" Unabara-san smacked a hand to the floor again; _now! _Kuroko reached for a spike, prepared to hit Unabara-san – but then there was a flash of light in front of her eyes and everything went white.

"Guh –" She instinctively lifted her arm to shield her eyes, but there was no use. She couldn't see anything but white light. _She could use it even in that situation? _Beside her, Hitomi-san gave a surprised squeal as well, and Kuroko heard footsteps as someone dashed towards them.

"You little brat!" Unabara-san cried out; too close for comfort. Not able to see anything, Kuroko stumbled backwards, and felt the air swish past her head when the spear missed her by inches.

"You think you can just barge in here and spew shit to outsmart us?" The next swing hit Kuroko in the ribs, with a lot more force than earlier. All air was forced out of her lungs, and she fell, pain erupting from her chest and spreading to her whole body as she hit the floor. She blinked desperately as she rolled over the hard surface, avoiding the next crushing blow. She was starting to see contours again, however not enough to make proper calculations.

"And not only that!" Unabara-san continued; "You dare bring up the Queen's name, as if you know anything about her, you fool!" _CRASSH_; the spear splintered against the floor as Kuroko stood up and barely avoided the strike; however the weapon instantly reformed and didn't suffer any damage at all. "Furthermore, you're calling the Railgun a _friend_, as if someone like her could have any at all! A selfish, thick-skulled high level with eyes for nothing but her own egoistic power!"

Kuroko dodged the thrust at her chest and gasped for breath as she stumbled backwards unsteadily; she could see now, but her body was aching all over. "Onee-sama is not like that!" She forced out.

"Oh yeah? Then how come she almost killed your precious Hitomi-san?" Unabara-san shouted and swung the spear again; Kuroko pulled back and avoided it by a hair's width, and then charged forward and hit Unabara-san squarely in her abdomen shoulder-first. The older girl let out an 'oof' as the air was knocked out of her, and the spear clattered to the floor. However she didn't fall; stepping backwards to relieve the impact ensured her foothold. And before Kuroko could refocus and figure out what exactly she had planned to do next, she was kicked in the side, and stumbled sideways while pain erupted throughout her body once more.

"Got you!" Unabara-san cried, gripping her wrist; Kuroko grimaced and turned to defend herself, but another flash of light appeared right in front of her face and blinded her again. Fasu-san hadn't been knocked out, apparently.

"Ack –"

"HAAH!" Unabara-san was going to strike – and then something crashed into the third-year and sent her veering off-course; Kuroko was pulled forward before her wrist was released, and heard the sound as two bodies hit the floor.

"I won't let you!" Hitomi-san's voice shouted; Kuroko gritted her teeth.

"What the – you bitch, stay away!" There was a loud smack, and Hitomi-san's cry of pain. Kuroko desperately rubbed her eyes; starting to see contours again, she could barely make out the forms on the floor, and leapt forward – and at that moment Unabara-san smacked one hand to the floor, and glass shot up from the surface beneath Kuroko's feet and pierced her shin like a stake through soil.

"Gah -!" She tripped forwards, pain tearing through her entire body. The glass piercing her leg broke off and remained stuck in her flesh as she fell over and hit the floor. Searing heat travelled up her insides and into her head, and she bit down on a cry of pain.

"Honestly, you guys are getting on my nerves." Unabara-san said, getting up.

Kuroko gritted her teeth, trying to breathe properly. _This is not good. If it was only one I would definitely win, but with the two of them it's… _She forced her eyes open and saw Hitomi-san lying on the floor just a few meters away, crying as blood trickled out her nose. Her limbs were trapped in encasing glass, just like what had happened to Misaka-san.

"Hitomi…san…" Kuroko groaned. She wanted to teleport over and help her, but she was too weak to move her body. Everything hurt, and her head was spinning from the beating it had received in the course of two days. More than that though, she had no idea what to do. She had thought she could take them out one at a time, but like this it was impossible. She could not see how she was supposed to win this fight, and that hopeless feeling was more damaging to her fighting spirit than any pain. Fasu-san was walking up beside Hitomi-san, a small smile on her face. She looked unhurt; whatever had happened when Kuroko was blinded the first time, it had obviously saved the third-year from hitting the floor too harshly.

Unabara-san picked up her spear and then approached Kuroko where she lay on the ground helplessly.

"Well well, the little pipsqueak tried to fight, and look what happens." She grinned at her from above, and used her spear to lift up one of her pigtails, letting the strands of hair glide down the shiny surface. Kuroko gritted her teeth, trying to breathe through the immense pain soaring through her leg.

"I suppose this is what happens to those opposing the Queen." Unabara-san said, smirking and crouching beside her, letting her fingers run over the glass piercing her skin. It wasn't very thick; it had maybe the size of a chopstick in diameter at most, but it still hurt a whole lot.

"Kh– are you her personal messenger or something?" Kuroko smirked too, despite the pain in her body.

"Who knows?" Unabara-san said nonchalantly. "Atomics sure as hell can't live without me though. Can you even imagine how much they owe me? How much they gain from me being such a close friend of the student council president?" Her eyes were glowing with contempt.

"So you did this to ensure Asanuma-san's re-election then?" Kuroko asked, huffing for breath. "If Hitomi-san is elected, you'll lose that position and become useless to them, is that it? In that case, you're even stupider than I thought. You really thought this would work?"

The girl's face suddenly twisted in rage, and she punched down onto Kuroko's shin; searing hot pain tore through her leg, making her cry out in pain.

"Who are you calling _useless_?" Unabara-san sneered. "Don't fucking talk about being useless while lying here crying about some scratch!"

Kuroko gasped for breath and felt the swirl in her mind calm down once more. The intense stab of pain receded to a dull throb; she could hardly feel her leg anymore.

"Did you not think – that anyone would come to stop you?" She huffed. Cold sweat was running down her face, and her lungs felt like they were too small. "Did you think we would just let you keep doing whatever you wanted?"

Unabara-san sighed loudly. "I did plan for _someone_ to try and interfere, however when Miss freakin' Railgun herself showed up, I was a bit worried – though she turned out to be a joke." Her smirk returned, looking over at Misaka-san's still form. "How can they call that moron the third strongest level five?"

Kuroko felt like she was shaking all over. "You don't know…" She bit out, remembering the sight of Misaka-san as she entered the parking lot just yesterday, that amazing beam of light that had given the level five her nickname – and her tender smile as she told Kuroko how her friends started avoiding her when she reached that level. Even though the same girl was currently lying trapped on the floor without an ounce of fight left in her, she still didn't cease to be amazing.

"_You don't know anything at all about Onee-sama!_" Her rage fueled her voice and made it reverberate through the whole room.

Unabara-san laughed loudly. "You sure are amusing! Maybe I should let _you_ suffocate in an airtight cage instead; seems like your ability was a bit hindered by this injury, no?" She poked a finger at Kuroko's shin again, and pain shot up through her entire nervous system and into her brain.

"Ghh—" Kuroko gritted her teeth tightly; then she gasped for breath. "Is taunting me the only cause you have left now that everything has failed?" She croaked. "There is no use: Nothing you say can make me view Onee-sama any different."

"_Onee-sama, Onee-sama_; honestly, are you delirious or something?" Unabara-san gave an exasperated sigh. "If I can get Asanuma-san to be re-elected and have the Railgun expelled from school at the same time, I would say this whole mess has been worth it." Suddenly, she grinned. "Why, who do you think they'll believe? When I tell them Misaka-san broke into this place and started attacking people right and left, even with this entire branch backing me up, my uncle and the school board will certainly kick her out! Everyone will see how the glorious Railgun is nothing more than a spoiled brat and a dangerous criminal. HAHA!" She laughed heartily.

"Heh." Kuroko grinned too, remembering the scene she had stumbled upon in a back alley just a few weeks ago. "Indeed, she is a criminal." Her grin widened even more as the different encounters with Onee-sama played out in her mind. "Taking the law in her own hands, reading manga without paying for it, mistreating public vending machines, electrifying people indiscriminately just because they annoy her; even stealing game arcade coins without a second thought." Her jaw shivered despite her smile. "To be honest, she's the picture perfect law-breaking delinquent."

She clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. "But so what? She might be a criminal, but you are ten times worse!" The volume of her voice upped; burning fire erupting in her chest. "You trick others into doing your dirty work for you, hurt our students and threaten Hitomi-san with their lives, and spread horrible rumors while hiding behind your status at school – while you're a coward, Onee-sama is noble and brave, and she helps anyone no matter who they are!" She raised her head and nearly screamed her next words out: "_It doesn't matter what you say!_ The truth is still the truth, _AND THE TRUTH IS THAT MISAKA MIKOTO-ONEE-SAMA IS A **TRULY AMAZING HUMAN BEING**_!"

Her bellow made echoes in the greenhouse. Unabara-san stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Oh my." Fasu-san said, a smirk in her voice. "That is quite the fierce dedication."

"Hah – haha!" Unabara-san suddenly laughed loudly. "Listen to that crap! It's hilarious! You think the Railgun – you think that thick-headed level five – is that kind of person?"

Kuroko gritted her teeth again, preparing another retort – when suddenly: "I guess… the truth depends on who you choose to listen to…"

Kuroko's eyes widened, and she turned her head to stare the other way. Small, blue charges spat forth from Mikoto where she lay quite some distance away from them. Those charges were like the first flowers breaking through the snow in spring – to Kuroko, it could as well have been the very sun rising on the horizon.

"To think that a stupid underclassman is the one who has to tell me something like that though…" The electricity emitting from Mikoto's trapped hands and feet was crackling like fire, and its reddish color spoke of enormous heat.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko exclaimed happily, even though the pain was still puncturing her body.

Even Misaka-san's hair fluttered from the force of the electric currents snapping around her. "…That just **pisses me off**!"

* * *

Note:

I apologize in advance for the late update _and_ the evil cliffhanger. (Does it count as in advance when it comes afterwards?) I wish I could blame it on "I chose alternative A", but that would be a lie. Actually, after counting the impossible votes, I ended up with 2 chapters winning out. Of course, I couldn't very well tell you there was going to be a cliffhanger if there were two chapters – that's how evil I am. If it's any consolation, this is way more than 5000 words!

Now I'm sick and tired of reading this chapter. Please just read and enjoy and tell me if I screwed up anywhere! Really, I've been writing and rewriting, choreographing and re-choreographing, analyzing and re-analyzing every step and breath and train of thought in this chapter, heck I've even tried swearing and smacking my head, and 50% of that was spent trying to have Mikoto knocked out of the fight in a not-completely-ridiculous manner. Can you _imagine _how hard that was? I shot at her, soaked her, hit her weak points emotionally, blinded her, trapped her in a friggin' glass cage and knocked her down even further, thinking my preparations were flawless – and it was still not right! I wrote two different variants, and then FOUR variants of this variant – For God's sake, give it a rest already! Kuroko deserves a moment of glory too, you know! (And writing _that_ part of the fight was a story on its own.)

And thus I blame Mikoto for everything! EVERYHTING IS YOUR FAULT! BUT NOW YOU'LL STAY DOWN! MUHAHAHA I BEAT THE RAILGUN – WHA – WAIT! NO WAY! STAY DOOOOOOOOOOWN! *pulls out pen to rewrite -* _ZAAP! _*flop*

**Next time: ***mumble* I _will _succeed… I'll show you… damn it… it's not over yet! *continues to mutter incomprehensible things in the corner of the room*

Words and terms:

Gimei's real name: _Yuudoku_ (有毒) = poisonous; toxic. _Kino_ = Short of "Kinoko", which means _mushroom_.

By the way, I recently read volume SS2 chapter 14 over at Baka-tsuki and felt like …aaah, I'm happy I haven't made Mikoto hack into the Academy City databanks. Obviously the Anti-Skill ones are less secure, no? *shifty eyes* (By the way, you can safely read that chapter without having anything spoiled to you at all. It's starring Uiharu and a certain hacker!)

Lastly, I pray the situation after the giant earthquake is… well… not getting worse. Man, that's just tragic.


	23. Chapter 23: Finale

**Chapter 23: Finale**

With a splintering sound, the glass holding the level five captive exploded as if it was just a thin sheet of ice. She stood up from the floor, one hand holding her temple as she winced in pain, glass drizzling from her sleeves. Blue lightning spit forth from her in bursts, almost like a badly tuned radio spouting audible sounds only once every few seconds.

Unabara-san tsk'ed and stood up, the spear in her hand already changing form. "Using the heat of your electricity to weaken the glass – I guess I should expect nothing less from the level five electromaster." She raised her chin proudly. "Still, you are nothing compared to the Queen!"

Mikoto had a very simple answer to that; "I don't care about queens or kings or presidents… _IF YOU HURT MY FRIENDS, I'LL GIVE YOU HELL_!" A blue beam of lightning shot forth towards Unabara-san – it looked like the fight was already over – but instead of a spear, the third-year was holding another shield now, and the electric beam hit it and was dispersed to all sides: Striking everywhere but the intended target, including the floor beside Kuroko. Kuroko winced and pulled away in reflex; her soaring heart immediately collapsing. _It wasn't strong enough… _Even with a shield, it was still glass; an electric charge of the required strength would easily penetrate it. With Onee-sama unable to do so, her condition was obviously less than fit for fighting.

"You'll have to do better than that, you fool!" Unabara-san shouted, dashing forward with the shield in front of her body.

Misaka-san was breathing heavily, sweat shining on her forehead – no question it was hard for her to concentrate through the pain in her head. Yet she crouched, preparing herself for the imminent fight. And with the situation being what it was, there was nothing else to do. Hitomi-san was trapped to the floor, no fight left in the blonde girl; Kuroko had her shin skewered by a piece of glass, hindered by pain; and it didn't look like Unabara-san or Fasu-san was going to listen to reason any time soon.

Kuroko's breath was burning hot in her throat. _I have no choice but to rely on Onee-sama after all…? _But could even she do anything with these conditions?

"HAAAAH!" Unabara-san suddenly stopped and smacked a hand to the floor, the shield still covering her body. The floor below Misaka-san wobbled, and she jumped backwards, avoiding the dangerous glass spikes that shot up from the surface – she raised her hand and fired another lightning strike, but it didn't even reach Unabara-san this time. Unabara-san pulled her hand up, and a new piece of glass followed the movement; it formed into a weapon that looked more like a bokken than a spear. She gripped it and pulled it from the floor; with shield and weapon both equipped, she charged at Misaka-san with a war cry, readying her weapon for strike. Mikoto was wincing and holding her head, trying to focus on the opponent ahead.

_This fight is too one-sided! _Kuroko clenched her hands tightly. _But what can I do? My ability is… _Her leg was pounding, her head swirling. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears; angry tears. _Onee-sama…_

Unabara-san swung the spear-slash-sword sideways at Mikoto; it might be shorter than her other spear, but it was still more than enough to reach past her shield and hit her opponent. Mikoto raised her arms as if trying to block it with her bare hands, but the strike made her trip and fall sideways. She managed to fire another lightning strike before hitting the floor, but the aim was off and it barely missed the edge of the shield.

She rolled over the hard surface and got back on her feet, fighting to keep her balance as she stumbled backwards; once steady, she crouched, gasping for air with sweat running down her face. The look in her eyes was fierce though, and Kuroko couldn't help the feeling of awe clenching in her chest. _Even now, she's fighting…_

"You're completely exhausted, aren't you!" Unabara-san shouted, grinning again from behind her cover. She leapt forward, swinging her weapon once more; this time Mikoto dodged it, but she was far from steady while doing so. Unabara-san didn't miss even a heartbeat before striking out again; Mikoto pulled back and the weapon went past her face with mere inches to go.

"You can hardly move, and you can't possibly exert enough force to weaken my shield!" The third-year yelled, moving to strike again. "So what are you going to do, _Railgun_?" The shield was still protecting her from anything Mikoto could fire at her from this angle, and the short spear was coming down from above, aimed directly at Mikoto's head. There was no time to dodge it this time. Instead, Mikoto's hand shot up to grab the weapon in mid-air, and a vicious electric charge tore out and completely eradicated the weapon before it hit her. Half of the weapon broke off and fell to the floor, the end completely twisted and glowing red; Unabara-san's eyes widened, and Kuroko's too. _No way—! Just like that, she melted it?_

"Don't go and decide for yourself what I can do!" Mikoto bellowed. She put out her other hand, and an electric beam struck out at the ponytailed girl. Unabara-san barely had the presence of mind to pull back and block it; this time though, the intensity of the attack pressed her to back up even further, and even if it didn't penetrate the shield, it was a strong reminder as to just who her opponent was.

The electricity scattered everywhere; however, without anything to create friction the heat was not great enough to destroy the shield, and Unabara-san was still unscathed.

Electricity continued to spit out around Misaka-san, blue arches of millions of volts striking out into the air like grasping for something not visible to human eyes. What looked like a ball of lightning was gathering in her hand, and the glare in her eyes would probably scare anyone off – it made even the hairs in Kuroko's neck stand on end. She could only imagine what it would be like to be facing something like that; in any case, there really was no doubt Unabara-san stood no chance in this fight.

Unabara-san gritted her teeth, sweat shining on her forehead. She was standing some distance from Mikoto now, too far for her to strike without moving forward first. "Don't you realize we have the upper hand in here, you dumbass!" She cried out, still sounding more angry than scared.

Mikoto pulled her arm back as if readying to toss the ball of lightning directly at the other girl, snakes of electricity still snapping around her – and then she winced, grimacing in pain; the charging electricity cut off as if someone had pulled out the plug._ No! _Kuroko's heart stopped.

"I guess that hit to the head did its job after all!" Unabara-san laughed and charged forward again, the shield in her hands changing form into another long spear. Mikoto didn't answer; she was holding her head and clenching her eyes shut.

Kuroko gritted her teeth defiantly. _I won't let that happen! _She reached down to pull out a spike. _I will not let her hurt Onee-sama anymore! _She would not give up, would not lie here and watch while Misaka-san fought in her place. She forced herself to focus, ignored the throbbing pain in her leg and the woozy dizziness in her head, and locked on Unabara-san's feet, spike in her hand. _Even if it's a bit of a distance, my accuracy should still be… _Her eyes shone with concentration._ I should be able to hit her, at least; it doesn't matter where! _

The spike disappeared from her fingers. It reappeared at the required distance just a heartbeat later; however instead of being anywhere near Unabara-san's legs, it protruded from the floor, stuck there as if someone had done a sloppy job of nailing it in. Her concentration was too frayed – her accuracy badly lowered. _No way… _She wanted to cry; she felt useless, lying there in a pool of pain, unable to even move, yet again leaving her fate in the hands of Misaka-san, and the other girl was hardly fit for fighting in this state… Her hands fisted themselves, and her shoulders shook. _Onee-sama…!_

That was when, for the second time that day, something completely unexpected happened. In her charge, Unabara-san wasn't paying attention to the floor – and in her next step, the tip of her shoe hit the misplaced spike, and she tripped at the sudden obstacle. The third-year fell towards the floor with a surprised expression on her face, letting go of the weapon in her hands to catch herself, leaving her without any chance to defend herself at all; Kuroko saw the blue charges once again spitting from Misaka-san's bangs, and then – she could see nothing at all.

Fasu Niba had unleashed another flash of light, effectively blinding her. _How—? How does she do it? Can she choose who to blind? What are her exact limits? _She suddenly regretted not having asked Uiharu for more details. But whether it was making use of the water in the air to redirect the light or manipulating photons or something similar – Kuroko couldn't do anything to counter it, and she still couldn't see. _Can she blind more people at once? _

There was a crackling sound, but no cry of pain to accompany it –

Kuroko felt the floor under her hands move in a funny way, as if it was flowing away from her – and then she was starting to see again, and she saw Unabara-san's hand on the floor, her sleeve scorched and shredded from the shoulder down, the skin underneath red from burns. She didn't even seem to notice it, her eyes completely wild, glaring at Misaka-san with pure rage filling them.

Dissipating electricity crackled from Mikoto's bangs, and she was holding her head in pain still – or again – and the glass was climbing her legs from the floor and already covering half of her chest, rapidly encasing her in a shining prison. In a few seconds, she would be completely trapped – and freeing her would not be easy.

In that moment, something happened in Shirai Kuroko's brain. Like fear, anger and determination settled in her nervous system all at once, fire set ablaze in her abdomen. The pain was but a mere memory blasted off; the distraction that had bothered her completely wiped out. Boiling heat was tearing through her bloodstreams; adrenaline filling her limbs. There was no reason to hesitate – there was only one thing to do. Misaka-san was still not completely trapped – it was not too late.

In the next instant, the beaten, tired form on the floor was gone, reappearing at the side of Mikoto; however now, it was not beaten nor tired anymore. Kuroko was purely focused on her task, the one, single thing that mattered right now, and it made fire course through her body with its distinct clearness; _I will protect Onee-sama!_

Mikoto's head and right hand were still free of the encasing glass, and Kuroko grabbed her wrist, not even offering a glance at Unabara-san – and then they were gone. The glass shattered in the empty air, as if someone had shot a projectile into it; Kuroko and Mikoto stood safely in the middle of the room however. Kuroko was gasping down air, a burning pain running through her leg, yet at the moment she was completely focused. Right now, the wound was more like a nuisance than a hindrance.

Only a couple of seconds had passed since she first moved, not enough time for anyone to comprehend what had really happened. However, Unabara-san saw the shattered glass fall emptily to the floor, and her head turned, eyes finding them again. Her face twisted in a sneer, and she used her ability to create a new shield from the floor – _she still plans on using close combat to take us down…_ Kuroko knew their chances looked rather slim right now. Injured and tired, both of them were severely handicapped…at the same time it looked like Unabara-san's rage kept her from growing tired at all, and she had this whole greenhouse to play with. Fasu-san was still standing off to the side as well, waiting for the next moment to unleash her ability. She seemed so superior, so calm and level-headed, contrary to her explosive partner; not even dealing a single blow or strike…

With an enraged look on her face, Unabara-san dashed towards them, protected by her new shield. _Do I try to fight her? But I will be blinded again… _Kuroko's forehead was covered with sweat pearls, and her body was tense in anticipation.

"Kuroko, can you still use your ability?" Mikoto suddenly asked. She was breathing heavily, but her voice was steady.

Kuroko's eyes widened; her leg trembled, and she forced it to still. "Of course I can!" She bit out. There was no way she would let this minor injury stop her again. She had once fought a bank robber with a broken ankle; this was nothing in comparison.

"Then, please get Hitomi-san out of here." Mikoto said, putting a hand into her pocket.

"Eh?" Kuroko looked up at her, and had just enough time to see the determined look in her eyes before the surface they were standing on wobbled; Kuroko stumbled backwards and winced at the pain tearing through her leg; Mikoto managed to keep her balance and pulled out not only one, but a handful of game arcade coins from her pocket. Kuroko's eyes widened. _What the –_ she had no time to finish the thought before Mikoto tossed the coins into the air – the floor was rising around her, and the wall was shooting out behind her, as if Unabara-san was planning to trap her or skewer her, whichever finished first; but the electricity was already charging around Mikoto's hand –

There was only a second to move. Kuroko appeared beside Hitomi-san and touched her shoulder; in front of her, Fasu-san was already stretching a hand out, planning to blind Mikoto again. Kuroko teleported herself and Hitomi-san over and knocked a fist into the back of her head, interrupting her; looking up, she saw the overwhelming raving glass surround Onee-sama on all sides and –

The electric charge shot from Mikoto's hand and hit the coins scattered above her. There was a moment of a heartbeat when there were just eight blinding streaks of orange flames shooting out from where the coins had been, and then an incredible _CRACK_ of thunder followed – the beams of light shattered the glass around her instantly, and travelled on to pierce the walls and ceiling – the whole greenhouse shook from the force. Cracks spread over the shining surface above and beside them, like an avalanche about to come; pieces of glass fell from the ceiling.

Mikoto was already pulling out another coin, and Unabara-san, still bent to touch the floor, was almost hit by a piece of glass when it fell from the ceiling. It shattered against the floor and startled her; looking up at the cracking ceiling, she then put her shield down and created a barrier of glass around herself. Kuroko did not need to see more than Mikoto aiming her next shot at the floor to understand what would happen next. She teleported out of there with the two other girls.

Just as they landed safely in the grass outside the greenhouse, another _boom _resounded and everything shook again.

"Shirai-san!" Hitomi-san cried happily, even though her face was smeared with blood and her glasses sitting askew on her nose.

"What are you doing?" Fasu-san turned around and sneered at her. "Do you really think Misaka-san can even compete with Ryoko for more than a few—" _SKREEEEEE—_she cut off at the incredible noise and turned around. The glass wall in front of them was cracking from the ground up. However, it was not due to the damage from the scattered railguns. A wave of what looked like black smoke was tearing it apart; and it was not alone. Numerous waves were lashing out of the greenhouse, cutting through the entire building in different places – the ceiling, the walls; diagonally, horizontally, vertically – and it came down in a giant shattering rumble, broken glass raining everywhere, deafening their ears when it hit the floor in big chunks and shattered. The terrifying waves of magnetized iron sand travel through the thick glass as easily as if it was a chainsaw going through wood, tearing the chunks into pieces and even eradicating it into dust in places. The magnificent greenhouse was being destroyed by a power greater than any of them had ever seen before.

Kuroko's eyes were wide and her chest clenching with awe. Hitomi-san collapsed to her knees, watching the scene with an awestruck expression on her face. Fasu-san stood beside Kuroko still; contrasting to the others' feeling of awe, the third-year's form was trembling.

When all that was left of the glass house was the shattered floor and a few sections of the wall, the flowing iron sand dispersed suddenly, a streak of electricity travelling through it before it landed on the ground like a fine blanket of sand. Standing on the same spot still, Misaka-san looked like she was about ready to collapse, heaving for breath and yet still on her feet, one hand clutching her temple. She was unhurt; any chunks of glass that may have been in danger of hitting her had probably been dealt with by her iron sand ability.

There was a cracked glass sphere about ten meters from the second-year; it seemed to have survived the worst of it. Kuroko had a feeling that if that black sand touched a human they would need an ambulance rather quickly, and so Onee-sama had probably refrained from striking Unabara-san's prison directly.

"This is… this is just…" Fasu-san's voice was trembling just about as much as her body.

"This is what you tried to fight." Kuroko said, a proud look suddenly appearing on her face. "The power of the strongest electromaster."

"How is this possible?" Fasu-san shrieked. "She was completely out of it just a few minutes ago!"

"Well now, that does not seem to be the situation anymore, does it?" Kuroko couldn't help the confident smile on her lips. It seemed like Fasu-san's calm demeanor was finally cracking.

The glass sphere shivered, and then started changing form. Unabara-san was revealed as part of her prison once more changed into a shield.

"She is still planning to fight…" Hitomi-san breathed, seemingly amazed. Kuroko could not decide whether Unabara-san was brave or foolish at this point.

"Is that all, you brat?" Unabara-san shouted at Mikoto, standing up with the shield in front of her, another short spear forming in her other hand. Her eyes were almost feverish, her face glistening with sweat. It seemed like she was completely unable to see she had already lost. With her battleground as good as disintegrated, she could only do so much to fight back. And with the incredible power display Onee-sama had just given, it was hard to believe she thought she even had a speck of a chance to win.

"Ryoko, get her now!" Fasu-san suddenly yelled; her eyes were desperate, her face ashen. "She can barely stand upright; she's no match for you!" And she raised her hand – but was suddenly turned upside down in the air and hit the ground face first.

"I would not try that anymore, if I were you." Kuroko sighed above her, pulling out a couple of spikes. Even though her leg was still skewered by a piece of glass, she managed to don a smirk on her face. "This ends here." _Thwok, thwok,_ the spikes protruded from the girl's sleeves, keeping her secured to the ground.

Unabara-san lifted the newly formed shield and then ran forward with a raging battle cry, as if to make a last desperate attack on Misaka-san – Kuroko drew a small breath, sorting away the feeling of pain to the back of her mind. Then she teleported, and appeared beside Mikoto.

"Ah, Kuroko…" She was sweaty – and tired, if one was to judge from her heaving breath. Her hair was ruffled after having nearly dried up and then suffered from a fast-paced battle.

"Onee-sama, allow me." Kuroko smiled and pulled out another spike from her belts. Gazing at the charging form of Unabara-san, she made a concentrated calculation. There was no way she could utilize her power well enough to fight the third-year head on, and she'd rather not risk more injury to her leg – but she could at least ensure their victory. One last, well-placed teleportation was all she needed, and there was no reason to believe she couldn't do it.

Unabara-san made a violent jolt when the metal spike suddenly appeared in her shield. Kuroko grinned at her success, despite the following swirl in her head. The third-year stopped her charge, and stared as if frozen solid at the spike and the small cracks appearing around it. It had appeared almost perfectly in the middle, a stroke of luck really, yet giving a leering hint of how easy it would be for the teleporter to take her out in one shot. However, Kuroko was not planning to take the risk of trying to hit the other girl directly while in this state. And there was no reason to do so. She had complete faith in the girl beside her to be able to finish this properly.

"Ah…" Mikoto said, apparently just now realizing what Kuroko had done. Sparks erupted from her bangs, and she grinned. Despite her tired posture, her eyes suddenly seemed to glint. "That's one handy ability!"

Unabara-san's eyes were wide with terror. Her weapon clattered to the ground from her weak grip. "W—!" She started, but it was already too late: A blue lightning strike shot out from Mikoto's fringe and hit the spike head on, using it as a conductor to easily penetrate the shield and strike the girl behind it.

"GUWAAAAH!" Unabara-san convulsed and collapsed, her shield falling to the ground beside her, finally shattering to pieces.

The silence that followed was nearly unreal.

Mikoto was swaying dangerously now, and Kuroko grabbed her before she fell, placing one of her arms over her own shoulders. Her uniform was wet and cold against her neck, and Kuroko wondered briefly how she'd become so soaked.

Hitomi-san gave a joyful whine and came running over to them. Kuroko looked at her and smiled. Even with blood smeared all over her face and her glasses askew, the blonde radiated a cheerfulness that was easily contagious.

"Shirai-san, Misaka-san!" She jumped forward and enveloped them both in a hug, making both of them grimace in pain. "I am so happy you came to find me!"

"Gh –" Kuroko bit down on the searing flames running through her leg, and forced out a trembling grin. "H-hai, that's… a given…"

Hitomi-san pulled back, studying them worriedly. "My, I'm sorry; you're hurt, aren't you?"

Mikoto smiled, even though she looked awfully tired. "It's fine…"

Kuroko looked at her in surprise, though her face soon formed into a crooked smirk. "My, Onee-sama, acting all heroic like that…"

"There's nothing heroic about it!" But she still blushed.

Hitomi-san beamed.

"Kh- kh-" Unabara-san's labored breathing captured their attention; apparently she had not been completely knocked out. Kuroko teleported herself and Misaka-san over to where she lay on the ground, twitching slightly. Her skin was singed several places and she would most likely need a doctor to check it out – her Tokiwadai uniform had not been spared either, though that was a minor problem in comparison.

"Is she…?" Hitomi-san asked, as she came up beside them, looking down at Unabara-san worriedly.

"Well, she's not dead yet, so I guess it is okay." Kuroko said dryly.

"I tried to control it…"

Unabara-san's eyes suddenly shot open, making them all jolt. The third-year sat up, gritting her teeth, smoke still rising from her body.

"You shouldn't move too much, you're quite seriously hurt." Hitomi-san suggested.

Unabara-san did indeed seem unsteady as she gazed at the ground, but then her head lifted, and she looked at them all in turn. Giving no words to Mikoto or Kuroko, she lastly looked at Hitomi-san.

"Hitomi-san…?" Her voice was weak, and she lifted a hand to her temple with a wince.

"Wha – Unabara-san?" Hitomi-san asked in surprise, but the older girl clenched her eyes shut before falling backwards to the ground again.

"Ah, she fainted." Kuroko commented, feeling but a tiny amount of pity. Her eyes glanced over to the other third-year, who lay helplessly on the ground and glared at them venomously, tears and blood flowing down her face. "Perhaps we ought to ask _this one_ any questions we might have…"

"Hmm." Hitomi-san turned towards Fasu-san as well. "They are both acting quite odd; I wonder if they could be her mind puppets?"

Fasu-san sneered, while Kuroko turned a questioning gaze at the blonde girl. "Mind puppet?"

"Apparently the Queen uses some of our students to convey her messages instead of speaking publicly herself." Hitomi-san said, a serious expression on her face. "Amongst the students, they are called mind puppets… From the way these two were acting, it wouldn't surprise me…"

"Kehehe!" Fasu-san suddenly laughed in a high-pitched tone, a twitching grin forming around her mouth. She was staring right at Mikoto, for some reason. "The Queen cares about her followers, unlike _you_, Railgun!" Her voice was thick through her broken nose. That obviously didn't keep her from speaking though.

Mikoto looked back at her. "What the heck?"

Hitomi-san bristled. "If you call doing all this _caring_, you need to check your Chinese-Japanese dictionary more often, Fasu-san!" She bellowed, surprisingly fierce even if the comeback was rather lame.

"You're so naïve, Hitomi-san." Fasu-san sneered, glaring at the blonde girl. "The Queen's supporters are many, and powerful, and a good deal of them are members of Atomics. Why is that, you think?"

Kuroko was instantly struck by disbelief. _Don't tell me that's actually..._

"I will not listen to another word you say!" Hitomi-san said fiercely. "Your intentions have been muddy ever since the beginning, but they are all egoistic and twisted; mind puppet or not, you are without doubt one foul human being!"

"As if you know anything about me!" Fasu-san shrieked.

"All you care about is climbing the social ladders using everyone around you, is it not?" Hitomi-san continued just as fiercely.

"Let me tell you something, _Hitomi Aika_!" Fasu-san sneered. "To gain influence in Tokiwadai, there is a number of different ways to go about doing it – having one of the most powerful espers on your side is undoubtedly one of the most effective!"

"Why did you involve Unabara-san and Reiko in your twisted schemes then?" Hitomi-san shouted fiercely. "Why didn't you team up with someone sharing your own interests?"

"That is exactly what I did!" Fasu-san grinned despite her bleeding nose. "With Atomics! The most powerful faction in school, all thanks to Queen-sama! What, did you think I partnered up with _Ryoko_?" She snorted. "That fool is just a helpful tool. When Ryoko joined Atomics, I helped them talk her into using her contacts in Usan Research Branch V to form a contract – it was through her – _me_ – that they could cooperate in the first place. And through them, a whole lot of new possibilities opened up. Poor Ryoko, so happy for being useful, hardly hesitated at all to do our bidding, even when she was growing insecure. I even got to present her to the Queen before she decided to back out – of course, she had no idea it was her, or what she did to her." Her grin was sickening, and just a bit creepy. "When she joined the council, she continued to be an important asset to our development. She easily convinced her best friend Asanuma Reiko to support her as well; as you can imagine, she is very valuable to us!"

Hitomi-san bristled. "You are the greatest bitch to have ever set foot on Tokiwadai's grounds!" She cried. "You have been using everything and everyone to reach your own one-dimensional goals!"

"So what?" Fasu-san sneered back. "Everyone does that! Gaining power, influence and reputation – that is what Tokiwadai is all about!"

"That is your own twisted reality you're speaking of! Tokiwadai is much more than some simple tool for people like you to gain their fame – those of your kind is better off not coming there at all!"

"Well now who is the one with a twisted reality?" Fasu-san spat. "Have you ever looked around our school? Have you ever seen the girls around you; have you ever bothered to look past your own nose?"

Hitomi-san bristled again, while Kuroko sighed. She was getting a headache already. "Before this runs off into uncharted territories, let me get one thing straight." She said, looking at Fasu-san with a level stare. "The Queen, or rather you in her place, is manipulating Unabara-san, and Unabara-san has the support of Asanuma-san, giving you and Atomics the upper hand in the student council."

Fasu-san chuckled; she took that as a yes. "Then if Asanuma-san is replaced, that fine link of influence will be broken. Furthermore, the election has been going more and more in Hitomi-san's favor; that is why you resorted to this nonsense?"

"So you finally got it?" Fasu-san suddenly grinned gleefully. "We wouldn't want Asanuma-san replaced by this broad – it was easy to convince Ryoko into pulling this off, with a bit of help from Queen-sama!"

Kuroko could hardly believe what she was hearing; it was just too incredible. And Asanuma-san… hadn't she noticed…?

"So…" Mikoto suddenly said, "you're saying the Queen manipulated Unabara-san for her own personal gain?" Her voice was level, but Kuroko did not fail to notice the burning glare directed at Fasu-san.

"For Atomics!" Fasu-san shrieked, trying to yank away from the spikes securing her to the ground with no success. Had she been strong enough to rip apart her clothes in the first place, she would have had no reason to stay out of the fray and merely throw blinding flashes at them from a distance. In the end, she really was just another proper lady, wasn't she? With a rather twisted personality…

"Basically, Atomics consists of many of her supporters, and in order to have them keep supporting her, she helped you out." Mikoto summarized, hardly impressed.

"The Queen is a much more dignified person than you,_ Misaka Mikoto_!" Fasu-san shrieked. "_She_ should bear the title of 'Tokiwadai's ace'! It's a shame the third ranked level five is such an imbecile!"

"Titles and ranks have nothing to do with it." Mikoto solemnly said. She lowered her head slightly, still glaring at the black-haired girl. "Even so, I won't allow anyone to use people for their own good like this."

"What, are you trying to tell me you're going to fight Queen-sama? Hah!" Fasu-san gave a loud, unconvincing laugh. "She'll smear you over the floor with her unmatched power; how are you going to fight her when she'll make you turn on your own just like that? In the first place, you wouldn't even know how to identify her even if you stared right at her with a picture in your hand! Haha!" _Thwank!_ A spike suddenly protruded from the ground in front of her face, and she smacked her mouth shut and gulped. Kuroko held another spike in front of her chest nonchalantly, smiling slightly.

"Honestly, all this talk about ranks and titles and fighting each other is quite interesting." She sighed lightly. "However, there is no doubt your plans were foiled from the beginning. Removing Hitomi-san from the picture like this would not have done anything to ensure Asanuma-san's re-election in the first place. Those who wanted to would still be able to vote for her. Furthermore, I expect Tokiwadai would just delay the election until everything has been sorted out. You and your Queen have both failed this time."

Fasu-san sneered at her, but kept still.

"Actually, Shirai-san, I don't think that's quite it." Hitomi-san said, earning their attention. She was looking solemnly at Fasu-san. "I find it hard to believe the elusive Queen took part in this; it seems far too conspicuous for something she would do. In fact, nothing of this makes much sense."

"You mean…?" Kuroko looked at the blonde girl, who seemed all too serious with her blood-smeared face.

"It is true as you say, this would not benefit them at all, even if you and Misaka-san did not come to find me." Hitomi-san continued, looking at Fasu-san with a solemn expression. "It is all much too plain in sight to have the effect they would want." She directed her next words at Fasu-san: "Did you actually mean for all this to happen?"

Fasu-san gritted her teeth, and her hands curled into fists.

Kuroko smiled. "I see. Yes, it does indeed seem quite out of character for someone like that to partake in something that is so blatantly obvious. Perhaps you were just misusing the fact that Unabara-san was already under the Queen's influence?" Her smile only widened when Fasu-san didn't answer. "Then again, thinking about it, it seems unlikely for you to partake in this as well. Then, this was not your plan, was it?" The answer still failed to come, and her smile turned into a smirk. "I guess you had planned something grand and elegant; something cunningly intricate which would benefit you without drawing you any attention at all. You had most likely thought through every detail and visualized the perfect glorious ending. Yet something messed it up for you."

Fasu-san was shivering all over. It looked like she was very seriously going to blow up any moment.

Mikoto sighed. "Well, it can't be much more obvious than that."

"**It wasn't supposed to be like this!**" Fasu-san suddenly screamed, pulling at her trapped arms again with no use. "That fool just had to go and snap like a mental – kidnapping that stupid blonde girl was never part of our plan!" Hitomi-san flinched at this. "The debate was our target; the debate between the candidates! Ridiculing Hitomi Aika during her speech, having her mess up and repel all of her fans by carefully interfering from a distance with the help of our allies – that was what we had planned to do!" Fasu-san continued to scream, blood and tears flowing down her face. "When we left school, everything was prepared, down to the smallest detail – and then that useless fool suddenly called me and said we were going to _do it_, and refused to explain – she just trashed forward with no concern to our plans at all, and in the end, everything was messed up!" She heaved for breath; her face was almost as red as her nose. Her calm, elegant demeanor was as shattered as her twisted dreams.

Hitomi-san was shaking; suddenly she strode forward with an angry look on her face. "You have no right to speak of anyone like that!" She bent down and slapped the other girl harshly on the cheek. The _smack _was clearly audible even from a distance.

Fasu-san seemed shocked at first. Then her face grew enraged again. "This is all your fault!" She shrieked. "If it wasn't for you – you lowlifes just had to interfere! Groveling on your knees in front of that damn brat – you know they're just scared of you!" She glared fiercely at Misaka-san, and Kuroko could feel the second-year tensing up. She put a calming hand on the arm slung over her shoulders and gave a light-hearted sigh.

"Trying to stir up another fight as a last attempt at selfish justice is quite understandable," she said, "but while you and Onee-sama might both conveniently forget, I am a member of Judgment." She smiled at the angry third-year, yet her eyes stayed completely neutral. "When you explain to Anti-Skill what you just told us, I am sure everything will be solved peacefully."

Fasu-san gritted her teeth.

"Also," Kuroko added, her features softening as she glanced up at Mikoto's face, "if it's Onee-sama, groveling on my knees is something I would do with pride and joy. It is the least I could do for my best friend."

Mikoto looked down at her, surprise written over her entire face, and her cheeks suddenly reddened quite furiously. "J-jeez, then you suddenly say something like that…" she diverted her gaze and pulled her free hand through her hair, messing it up even more, but in the end, a small smile forced its way onto her face. The warmth in Kuroko's chest blossomed, and Hitomi-san beamed at them both.

Fasu-san on her side finally lowered her head in defeat.

XXX

Surprisingly, Anti-Skill showed up a few minutes later, just in time to completely miss everything. They came with vans and ambulances into the fenced area around the greenhouse; the officers viewed the remains of the building with awe. Apparently they had heard the ruckus from the evacuation point. And furthermore –

"We received the documents in question." One officer explained to Kuroko after they had moved everyone out of the vicinity to avoid any more damage due to the glass scattered around.

Kuroko was sitting in the open trunk of one of the Anti-Skill vans. She was already sporting a bandage on her shin, the pain-suppressing cream smeared directly onto the skin underneath working wonders. The rest of her body was still aching, and her head had started throbbing again, but she was feeling great all things considered. The ambulance officers had been shocked when she simply teleported the piece of glass out of her leg in front of their eyes. Even though the strain of using her ability made her sight blacken for a second, it was a relief to get rid of it.

The Anti-Skill officer was scratching her head while talking: "The alarms in here are tied up to a security company who contacted us at once. However after we finished rounding up the evacuating personnel, Judgment sent us some shocking papers, and we ended up arresting them instead. We were going to investigate this place due to the alarm, but now our orders have completely changed. Honestly, what a mess." She sighed. Behind the officer, Unabara-san was being loaded into an ambulance. Fasu-san had been cuffed up and placed in an Anti-Skill vehicle, not suffering any grave injuries except a broken nose and a wounded pride.

"This place did more than just researching spice." Kuroko said, a content smile on her lips. _Uiharu did a good job here._

"It looks like it." The officer gazed at the facility in question. "In any case, you can be certain we will pursue this to the very bottom. Experimenting on children…" she shook her head sadly, and then left.

Kuroko looked over to the girls getting treatment by the ambulance personnel. Misaka-san had already been fed pain relievers, and was wrapped up in a blanket. One of the ambulance officers was checking her eyes with a small flashlight.

He gave his conclusion while packing away his equipment. "You have a concussion, so don't move around too much today and refrain from using your ability for now, and you'll be fine in a few days." Mikoto huffed, and the man added dryly: "I swear, having these abilities only makes you kids go and get yourself into even more trouble than before…"

"Haha..." Mikoto laughed, obviously forced.

Kuroko couldn't help the small smile forming on her lips. She stood up and limped over.

Mikoto was rubbing her temple again. "Honestly, this day could have been better. Getting soaked, trapped and hit in the head…"

"Ah yes, your pride must have taken a serious blow back there." Kuroko smirked.

"Hmph." Mikoto pulled the blanket tighter around herself with a stubborn look on her face. "At least it's finally over."

Hitomi-san smiled humorously at them; she seemed to be in good health, all things considered. Her nose had stopped bleeding too, and she had been able to clean her face of the blood.

"Are you really okay, Hitomi-san?" Kuroko asked worriedly.

The blonde girl smiled brightly. "Hai! Apart from that elbow to my nose, they didn't hurt me – they merely bound and gagged me."

"Saying that so cheerfully…" Mikoto scratched her cheek with an uncertain smile on her face.

Kuroko sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Honestly, doing something as foolish as kidnapping you right in the middle of school – did they think no-one would notice?" Though, for all their security, she wondered when Tokiwadai would have noticed anything if she hadn't stumbled upon Asanuma-san inside that bathroom.

Hitomi-san smiled at her. "Their actions were quite out of sync indeed. For entering the bathroom so violently, they took me out of school in a rather calm manner. Now that I think about it, perhaps Fasu-san was trying to make the best out of an unexpected situation? They seemed rather shaken up though, and Unabara-san was acting quite strange, so I just tried to not upset them. I hoped _someone _would come and help me – I was just surprised it was you two."

"It's not like we planned to do it this way." Mikoto huffed; her cheeks were slightly pink though. Hitomi-san smiled at her.

Kuroko frowned. She was still perplexed at the entire chaos that had come of this._ What a mess…_

"Aikaaaa!" Suddenly, a voice penetrated the air. "Aikaaa!"

"Asanuma-san?" Kuroko wondered aloud, turning around, and seeing the third-year running towards them from the branch building, tears flowing down her cheeks. Gimei was following her warily, glancing at all the people present with doubtful eyes and cradling his bandaged hand to his chest. An Anti-Skill officer was right behind them.

"Reiko!" Hitomi-san cried right back, darting past Kuroko towards the other girl.

Asanuma-san jumped forward and enveloped Hitomi-san in a fierce hug. "Aikaaa!"

"Reiko!" Hitomi-san laughed, and the two girls twirled around laughingly; and then locked lips in a heartfelt kiss.

"Gah –" Mikoto spluttered, cheeks rapidly growing pink; Kuroko's eyes widened. _They really are…_ It was somehow definite proof that these two girls really did have that kind of relationship. Her heart fluttered; looking over at Mikoto, she noticed her astounded expression, and a smirk entered her face.

"Ara, Onee-sama, have you never seen a couple of lovers sharing their feelings before?"

"O-of course I have!" Mikoto exclaimed, growing even redder. "I was just surprised, is all! Surprised!" She folded her arms defiantly and gave an unconvincing nod. "Sheesh, you spout nonsense all the time. Of course I know what a couple –" She stopped abruptly when a pair of warm lips suddenly pressed themselves onto her cheek. Kuroko savored the feeling of the delicate skin, before – _wham!_ "What the hell are you doing!"

Kuroko squatted on the ground and clamped her head. "I was just fulfilling your dreams, Onee-sama…"

Mikoto was beet red, and glaring at her. "What the hell are you babbling about? What kind of dream would involve you kissing me on the cheek? That's not a dream, it's a nightmare!"

Kuroko rubbed at the bump on her head with a painful smile. _She is just as shy as I imagined_.

* * *

Note:

Jeez, FFdotnet error made this chapter be delayed by one more day.

I tried something new this time; reading the chapter out loud to myself while editing. It made for a completely different experience, at least… and my throat dried up too ^^; Now I'm once more just picking at small stuff which gets no better no matter how many times I change it. It's amazing how many times you can change one sentence to make it feel right, you know? I'm happy with the chapter though! But if you see a need for correction/improvement anywhere, please point it out!

Anyway; All this plot, character development, distribution of information and mysteries… who invented it? You can have it back! I will never again write anything with a plot! *is very serious indeed* But of course, writing action scenes isn't exactly easy either. This time too I had more variants of several of the events during the course of the battle. There is a fine balance between what's logical to do and what's interesting to read though (or _see_ *looks at the anime*). So the trick is finding something in between. Something that's plausible to happen, and yet exciting. In the end, please use your imagination as well, and try to put yourself in each character's situation. Easier said than done, I guess.

It was hard balancing the talk and the action in these two chapters, but I think/hope/assume I found a nice combination. In any case, I really wanted Kuroko to shine. And I really wanted to have Mikoto fire a lot of railguns at once. I think I fulfilled both my dreams.

Hope you enjoyed it as well!

**Next time: **All remaining questions are answered! (Great confidence here!) If you don't want to know anymore of what happens though, please feel free to stop reading now!

Words and terms:_  
Bokken_ = wooden training sword.

_To (blank name…):_ Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Now, about your concerns:

**1.** Either my explanation in chapter 19 was lacking, or you misunderstood what I wrote. Anyway, I wrote "This was also why, unless she deliberately left them behind, the clothes would always follow the body of the person she teleported." In other words, she is fully able to teleport only the clothes or only the person – if she _wants _to. However, as a general rule, objects that stick together or is inside one another is teleported together, so she doesn't need to consciously teleport the person _and _the clothes if she wants to move both. Teleporting the human would be enough, as the clothes would follow (this explains how she can teleport someone with their clothes on even without knowing what kind of underwear they are using or without touching every single garment directly – assuming she does not have an ability to see people's underwear and have lots of invisible hands, of course.) (And this is all my interpretation of course – if it says otherwise somewhere in the original material, please point it out to me. I want to be as correct as possible.) In chapter 20, fighting Gimei, she teleported away a bookcase and let the books and papers inside it stay behind; that is an example of moving the container without the contents.

So yes, she can teleport the container without what's inside. What I wanted to make clear is that she can teleport what's inside as well as the container even without knowing what the content is, simply because it's inside the container! This is to underline that her ability is not "disintegrating the object and have it reassemble at another point", but that she is in essence _moving_ the objects. Thus, if there _is _something inside the box (or if there _is _underwear on the human), and she wants to move the box _and _the contents (or the human _and _the underwear), she can do that without knowing what the contents (or underwear) are, simply by teleporting the box (or the human). I guess I could rephrase it, but I'll see about that after I'm finished with the story. Though, you're the first person to point it out, so I wonder if it's unclear in the first place. Did everyone else just scratch their heads and dismiss it? O.o (Furthermore, analyzing abilities like this always brings up loads of questions – it's nearly impossible. I blame it all on Kazuma Kamachi and his Personal Reality.)

**2.** It would be impossible for me to make everyone happy regarding this, of course. Perhaps this chapter amended some of your sorrows? However, I do think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. Instead of "she should be able to do this and that now because she does so and so later on!" it should be "Aaah, she's able to do so and so later on because she experiences this and that now!" (As a side note, assuming our heroines are the only ones with any experience at all would be quite shallow-minded.)

**3.** Will be answered later.

I am happy to hear you like the story, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well =)

* * *

**BONUS PARAGRAPH! **

Electricity struck around Mikoto like divine punishment from the heavens. She was glaring at Unabara-san with pure white rage roaring in her eyes; the skies above them were darkening with thunderclouds, and flashes of lightning struck across it.  
Unabara-san was charging at the electromaster with her spear lifted and ready to strike, ignoring the strong winds pulling at their clothes and ruffling their hair, and completely blind to the destroyed greenhouse speaking of her imminent defeat. "You're going down, Railgun!"

Through the growing noise of furious electric currents and roaring wind, Mikoto answered levelly: "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?"

…

…Hitomi-san stared at her.

…Fasu-san stared at her.

…Kuroko stared her, baffled beyond belief.

Unabara-san however merely continued her furious charge, roaring: "The same thing that happens to everything else, you fool! But what can your lightning strike possibly do to help you now? TELL ME!"

Mikoto raised one hand, and the lightning above turned even more furious. "Oh you'll find out; I'm about to summon it!"

(…*facepalm*)


	24. Chapter 24: Happily Ever After

**Chapter 24: Happily Ever After**

Kazari entered the 177th branch office that Friday afternoon with a humming melody on her lips and a relieved presence of mind.

"Good afternoon, Shirai-san, Konori-senpai!" She greeted her Judgment partners who were already sitting at their desks. Konori-senpai cheerfully greeted her back; she was sipping a carton of milk, which Kazari had learned was quite a common sight. Shirai-san merely muttered something as a greeting, leaning over her laptop with taut shoulders. Her bandaged leg rested on a low chair, and Kazari wondered if she was really supposed to even be here. It was two days since the incident at Usan Research Branch V, but even though the medicine in Academy City was truly amazing, some wounds still required time to heal properly.

Kuroko suddenly leaned back into her chair with a groan. "This is ridiculous! 'For acting outside your jurisdiction without proper consent, the Judgment Court has deemed it a suitable punishment to write two sets of apology letters as well as contributing in the cleanup of the scene of crime.' Why? I solved the case!" She glared at the screen with a pout.

Kazari smiled uncertainly, sitting down at her workspace and hoping that she would not see a similar e-mail in her own inbox. Even though she had helped a lot and would like to be acknowledged in that sense, if the acknowledgement included something like that, she'd gladly give all the credit to Shirai-san.

"That's what you get for acting outside your boundaries!" Konori-senpai glowered from behind the milk carton. "Honestly, going to that facility on your own without even notifying me – do I have to degrade you to a trainee again?"

Kuroko gritted her teeth. "There was no choice. Anti-Skill would not move and the situation was most pressing."

"Even so, going ahead knowing you would be facing two strong espers with a hostage, and even trespassing into a research facility…" Konori-senpai sighed deeply and put the milk onto her desk. "Sometimes I wonder if any of your training got through to you at all."

Kuroko huffed.

"Well, at least the situation got solved…" Kazari smiled hesitantly.

"Honestly, though I don't like how she dragged our newest member into this mess as well, it's a good thing you backed her up, Uiharu." Konori-senpai said, looking at her approvingly. "You're already an important member of our branch."

Kazari reddened quite furiously. "H-hai!"

"Is there any new info yet?" Kuroko asked sourly.

Konori-senpai sighed. "Last I heard they were still working on questioning all the parts involved in this. Officially, nothing new since the report last night." She folded her arms and looked into her computer screen thoughtfully. "Really, that Fasu Niba is one cunning plot master, isn't she?"

"Hmm." Kuroko stared unseeingly at her own screen. "The report doesn't say anything about her questioning?" She had been forced to stay in her dorm room to recuperate last night, and thus had no access to the newest information regarding the case. She had just started checking through the documentation and reports after coming to the office, and there was a lot of info to take in.

"It will come in a report later today." Konori-senpai said, clicking something on her own computer. "She was questioned by a psychic from 174th branch last night. Seems like she was quite involved with raising her reputation within Tokiwadai, and especially amongst the followers of the fifth level five." She paused briefly, looking thoughtful. "According to 174th branch she was crying throughout the whole thing, claiming they never meant for it to go this far. Apparently they used Unabara-san as a means to gain the upper hand in the student council, and the student council president was an airhead more concerned with popularity than questioning her best friend's antics." She gave a light sigh.

Kuroko tsk'ed.

"In the end, she claims the kidnapping was not part of what she had planned, and that it happened due to Unabara-san finally 'snapping'." Konori-senpai said.

Kuroko frowned. "They have not questioned Unabara-san yet?"

"To my knowledge they only had her confirm her involvement as of now. I suppose they'll let her recuperate first."

Kuroko saw the logic in that. With her mind having been influenced for so long and the wounds she had been inflicted back in the greenhouse being quite serious, she would probably need some time before she could testify properly.

She sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Honestly, this whole incident is annoying. To create so much trouble because of a mere election…" Neither Fasu-san nor Unabara-san had been expelled; however they had both retreated from the council (the school board gave them that chance instead of just kicking them out), and Asanuma-san withdrew on her own. Kuroko hoped this incident would enforce a stricter form of rule for those to join the student council, by requiring its members to not having been part of a faction at all.

Konori-senpai picked up her milk carton again. "According to the psychic who checked her out, the connection between Unabara-san and the Queen got cut off at some point. That was probably good; she said Unabara-san was becoming really unstable…"

"Well, her psyche must have been pretty messed up after being influenced for so long."

Kazari listened to them talk, feeling like she didn't know what to say in this conversation. She had only heard bits and pieces of that part of the incident, having been more involved in exposing Branch V than the actual kidnapping (and handling that part of the case, with the testimonies from the employees and so on, was enough work on its own). She knew only what she had been told by Shirai-san and what had been mentioned in the official reports.

"Still, even if Fasu-san was the culprit behind this specific case, there's no doubt the Queen has been misusing her power to quite some extent here." Konori-senpai said, depositing the empty milk carton in the trash bin beside her desk. "Something like that isn't usually looked lightly upon though…" She sighed, and folded her arms again.

"Aaah, level fives really are allowed to do whatever they want, aren't they…?" Kazari wondered aloud, feeling a bit unsettled by it all.

"Of course not." Kuroko huffed. "They are just as bound by the laws of Academy City as the rest of us." Even though certain individuals seemed to fail at comprehending this.

"Eh? But Anti-Skill hasn't arrested the Queen, right?" Kazari said, looking at her co-worker. "How come they haven't, if she's breaking the law?"

"The same reason they haven't arrested Onee-sama for wrecking half of Usan Research Branch V or hacking into the Anti-Skill network even though she's a mere civilian." Kuroko said dejectedly. Of course, Onee-sama had protested when she told her this. Apparently, being reminded that she was a mere civilian made her pride twitch. Sighing, she continued: "According to the report, the Board of Directors has asked this whole thing to be treated as 'necessary training to develop one's ability even further'. As level fives there's no doubt their level of training exceeds that of normal students, and this incident has been covered up as exactly that – one giant training project for the Railgun and the Queen." Her tone of voice implied just what she thought of this.

"Wah, that's kind of…" Kazari found it hard to imagine the power of a level five and what kind of training would be necessary, but it must be incredible if they even went to those lengths.

"How can they expect everyone to believe that though?" Konori-senpai suddenly asked, adjusting the glasses on her nose. "It's ridiculous. Putting people's lives in danger for a training project is just too…"

"Why, Konori-senpai, did you not read the report?" Kuroko smirked at her senior. "For the public, there is nothing to believe in the first place. The incident has not been on the news, other than the announcement of Usan Research Branch V's withdrawal from the market, and Hitomi-san's kidnapping is not known at all in Tokiwadai; the story is she was merely sick for a day." Of course, rumors would be flourishing about it all, but that was what it was; rumors.

"I did read the report, thank you." Konori-senpai muttered, folding her arms below her chest again. "I just think it's too far-fetched. But if it's only Usan Research, Judgment and Anti-Skill that knows the truth, they will be able to hide it, I guess." She sighed. "And of course, Usan Research immediately fired everyone at Branch V."

"They had no choice, really..." Kazari said, smiling hesitantly. She was still feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything; this whole incident had made her realize how truly complicated Academy City was on the inside. All the Judgment training in the world wouldn't have been able to prepare her for something like this. And still, she felt like it had been very educational rather than too much to handle.

Kuroko suddenly smacked her laptop shut and stood up, pulling on her school jacket.

"Where are you going?" Kazari asked.

"I have an appointment with Onee-sama." She said importantly, buttoning up her uniform. "I just stopped by to work on my report."

"Oh, a date, is it?" Kazari grinned. "So you really are that kind of girl, Shirai-san: I'd never have guessed!"

Kuroko stopped, stone-faced. "This is the first step to a deeper bonding…" Her voice was deadly serious, for some reason.

Kazari continued to smile. "Hai?"

Kuroko looked up at her all of a sudden, declaring: "Today the red string of fate tying mine and Onee-sama's story together will start weaving into our lives!"

"Aaaah… good luck then!" Kazari continued to grin, though it was starting to feel kind of awkward.

Kuroko picked up her school bag and teleported out of there.

Konori-senpai sighed loudly. "Seriously…"

Kazari laughed hesitantly, and then turned around to continue working on her own report. In the silence of the office, she kept typing on her keyboard, humming lowly to herself.

For several minutes, only the low sound of the computers and the clacking of keyboards could be heard. Then, slowly like a flower springing up from the ground, a strange feeling seeped into her chest. Her fingers paused on the keyboard.

She hadn't really had the time to think about it lately, but… _At this time, last week…_ it was unreal, but there was only one week since she had passed the make-up tests. Yet, here she was, feeling like she had been working in 177th branch for years.

A warm feeling filled her up, and a smile appeared on her lips. She continued to type on her keyboard, just a little lighter than before.

There was a knock on the office door. Konori-senpai sighed and stood up to open it. "Yes, this is Judgment 177th – wha –"

Her senior's surprised tone of voice made Kazari turn around, and her eyes widened.

"Heya…" Ruiko was standing in the doorway, a silly grin on her face and a cute yellow flower pin in her hair. What had surprised the two Judgment members so wasn't the girl herself however, but the red- and white striped animal purring by her legs.

"Hyou-chan!" Kazari exclaimed, and the cat mewed in greeting.

Ruiko looked down at the cat as well. "Hehee… he was roaming about outside and followed me up here…"

Konori-senpai bent down and picked up the kitten; she seemed flabbergasted. Kazari came over and looked down on the bundle in her arms.

"Where have _you _been, I wonder?" She smiled.

Hyou-chan mewed back.

XXX

The weather was sunny; it was really starting to get too hot to be wearing winter uniforms. It would only be a few weeks before those bothersome garments were switched out with their lighter summer variants though, and the Garden of Education was crowded with girls looking forward to the change.

The two sitting outside a small café enjoying a cold drink might be among them. But right now, their conversation was about things that had nothing to do with uniforms.

"So at least Hitomi-san ended up as the new student council president." Kuroko said, twirling the straw in her empty glass of soda around leisurely. Her elbows rested on the table, one hand supporting her head; hardly how a proper lady should be sitting, though that was far from what she was concerned about at the moment. Her leg was bandaged and hurt a bit still, though the pain was kept at bay with pain killers. It would probably heal within a week.

"No wonder, there was no other candidates after Asanuma-san retreated, was there?" Mikoto gave a small huff. In contrast to Kuroko, she was sitting in the chair as if it was a sofa, leaned backwards leisurely, legs crossed, and a slightly annoyed look on her face, though Kuroko had learned that her expression did not necessarily mirror her feelings. One could not see any traces of her having been in a harsh fight just days ago; as expected from the ace of Tokiwadai, Kuroko supposed.

"Ah, but Onee-sama, Hitomi-san is quite popular so she might have won even if there was competition…" She traced the edge of her glass with her finger, watching the older girl intently while speaking. They were sitting at a small table, looking to everyone like they were friends enjoying their free time together. Mikoto had been at school later than usual due to her violin recital, so Kuroko had joined up with her when she finished. For some reason she had been forbidden to enter the music room while she practiced (and she had been told so quite fiercely when she went to find Misaka-san after school – along with the four other girls crowding around the second-year asking the very same thing – even though she had chased them off). Their school bags and Onee-sama's violin case now stood on the ground, resting against the table legs.

"Hai, hai." Mikoto sighed and swirled her can of Coconut Cider around nonchalantly. "Perhaps she can actually do some of those things the student council promised last year. Seriously though, I still don't really get what was going on and all. It feels like something was just completely messed up all over the place."

"Yet you still showed up at Branch V and proceeded to blast the wall apart and destroy equipment worth millions of dollars." Kuroko said dryly.

Mikoto blushed. "It's not my fault they insisted on being stubborn. If they'd just let me in I'd…" She stopped, hesitating slightly.

"You would what? Partake in their experiments and become the next Gimei?" Kuroko's tone of voice was awfully smug.

"O-of course not!" Mikoto glared at her can of cider with a stubborn look on her face. Kuroko couldn't help but revel at her expression, even though she still thought the other girl had been reckless. Still, that seemed to be just like Onee-sama; throwing everything away to help others in need. "By the way, what happened to that guy? Gimei or whatever." Mikoto asked.

"Aah, he was arrested by Anti-Skill."

"Eeeh, really? I thought he was innocent after all?"

"Well, _why_ he did what he did is yet to be properly answered, but there is no denying he _did_ rob a lot of girls, made a bus crash on purpose, assisted in kidnapping and attacked a member of Judgment." Kuroko sighed, pulling her finger up and observing the soda that had stuck to it. "In any case, Anti-Skill is taking care of him. If they choose to punish him, that's up to them. I doubt they will though; the guy is obviously unstable." She carefully licked her finger clean.

"Hm. I guess they can't just let him go after all that." Mikoto said thoughtfully.

"By the way, Onee-sama, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Hmm?"

Kuroko put her hands on the table and looked up at the other girl. "Gimei – or Kino – was indeed able to manipulate wavelengths, just like you suspected. However, wavelengths are in fact nothing more than electromagnetic waves, are they not?"

"Saying it's 'nothing more than that' makes it sound so simple, but I suppose you're right." Mikoto answered solemnly.

"Then should you not be able to do the same as him? You can manipulate electromagnetic waves, no?" She had had a lot of time to think last night, and this was one of the things that had popped into her head. Considering Onee-sama was the level five electromaster, controlling electromagnetic waves was just part of what she could do, wasn't it?

"Hmm." Mikoto looked up into the air thoughtfully. Then she sighed, and gave a small smile. "That's kind of a difficult topic, you know? Basically even atoms stick together because of electromagnetism, so in theory, changing the structure of the atoms, splitting them and fusing them, anything could be possible. But there's no way a human brain could fully comprehend something on that level. You'd probably need a brain capacity the size of the universe. Besides, my ability is already pretty versatile." The last part was added with a proud look on her face.

Kuroko frowned. Still, she supposed even level fives had a limit of some sort, even though it far surpassed that of any other esper. "How did you come up with something like magnetizing iron sand anyway?" She asked. "Something so indelicate..."

"It's not supposed to be _delicate_." Mikoto huffed. "Besides, those spikes of yours are hardly any better."

Kuroko sighed. "I am a Judgment member; it is only natural for me to defend –"

"Same goes for me." Mikoto cut her off. "Do you know how many weirdos I face every week?" She sighed, an exasperated look on her face. "While most of them are pretty lame, suddenly there's someone who my electricity won't bite on; I'd be pretty helpless without any other means of defense." She said this and then carelessly swallowed another sip of cider.

Kuroko frowned again. There was so many things wrong with that sentence she didn't even know where to start. "In the first place, it's your own fault for sticking your nose into things that are of Judgment and Anti-Skill's concerns..."

"Hm? What?" Mikoto looked at her with a bored expression on her face.

"...never mind..." She couldn't be bothered to start an argument right now; besides, that wasn't her intent to begin with.

A cheerful waitress came over to their table and deposited a glass of bubbling and fizzing pink soda in front of Kuroko. "Here you go; sorry for the wait!" She twittered, and left with the empty glass. Kuroko took a sip from the pink straw; it was pretty good, and awfully sweet.

"I can't believe you ordered that thing…" Mikoto said dryly. "It looks creepy."

"It is a matter of being open-minded, Onee-sama." Kuroko said proudly. She frowned. "Still, for them to use almost ten minutes to make it is a bit too much."

Mikoto didn't look convinced, but didn't argue the point. "If you say so." She looked down into her cider again. "Still, this whole mess... I don't get why the Queen would be involved in it. It's not like I know her or anything, but you'd think she'd stay out of things like that."

"I guess it was a minor thing to her, making Unabara-san behave in a way benefitting of Atomics." Kuroko said.

"That's not what I meant." Mikoto huffed. "Why would she do it, in the first place? It seems too bothersome to be worth anything."

"Well, taking care of your fans is one way of staying popular, after all."

"Heeh." A crooked smile appeared on her face. "Staying popular, eh."

"Onee-sama, you should rid yourself of that careless tone and start thinking about your own image as well." Kuroko said, deadpan. It was almost scary how little the other girl seemed to care about this. Really, did she not consider her own reputation at all? Doing whatever she wanted and acting completely airheaded – that was not how the ace of Tokiwadai should be. That was not how any woman should be.

"Don't tell me you're suggesting I should start doing stuff like that too!" Mikoto huffed, cheeks just slightly pink.

Kuroko smirked and leaned forward. "Even if you wanted to, Onee-sama is unable to do something like that. You are too kind."

The other girl blushed furiously. "H-how would you know? Though there's no way I could control anyone's thoughts and actions like that. It seems kind of horrible."

"In your case, starting by removing those shorts of yours would be the first step." For the life of her, she could not understand how anyone could put on something like that without a care. Being oblivious about your reputation was one thing, but walking around in something so _horrendous_ was beyond comprehensible.

"What does that have to do with anything – and stop staring like that!" Mikoto banged the can of cider into the table so their drinks splattered everywhere on the tabletop. "Ack – sorry… but please keep your opinions to yourself if they're not important." Drawing a breath and having the color in her cheeks receding somewhat, she folded her arms, leaving the can of cider on the table. "I'm really starting to wonder why I'm sitting here with you today."

Kuroko smiled at her obliviousness. "Why, that's because the magnetic force between us is growing stronger every day."

"Now we're suddenly discussing physics?" Mikoto asked dryly.

"Ara, Onee-sama, are you really that innocent of nature?" Kuroko smirked, leaning just a bit closer over the table.

Mikoto stared at her with a strained expression on her face, leaning further back. "For some reason your attitude has completely changed the last few days. Did you hit your head at some point? Well actually you did," She added thoughtfully, "maybe some of your brain cells got displaced back there…"

"Not at all, Onee-sama." Kuroko said, settling back into her chair. She had prepared herself for the challenge of successfully unveiling Onee-sama's true nature; and until that happened (most likely in the near future), her most important task would be to keep her from discovering anything else. With small hints and a careful approach to the subject, she was certain Onee-sama would crack open in no time. "In any case, running off to take out Usan Research all by yourself is really something; luckily for you, I was also there." She smirked. "Such a coincidence must be destiny, don't you think?"

"Destiny?" Mikoto was blushing again. "Now you're making no sense. Besides, I already said thanks; what more do you want?"

Kuroko opened her mouth to answer, when another voice interrupted her suddenly: "Ah, there you are – Shirai-san, Misaka-san, good afternoon!" Hitomi-san came up beside them and smiled brilliantly; following her was the arrogant form of Asanuma-san.

"Ah, hi there." Mikoto greeted back, while Kuroko arranged her face into a smile after having her private time with Onee-sama interrupted.

"I'm sorry for suddenly inviting you both out like this," Hitomi-san said, "but I wanted to thank you properly somehow, and buying you both dinner felt like a good way of doing so."

"It is hardly necessary, but thank you either way." Kuroko said.

Hitomi-san smiled at her. She seemed as cheerful as always, and when Asanuma-san came up beside her and put a hand around her shoulders, she beamed up at the older girl. Kuroko felt her heart flutter, imagining herself and a certain level five in that same position.

Mikoto was merely sipping her cider however, cheeks just barely tinted.

"Are you two okay?" Hitomi-san asked, peeking at Kuroko's bandaged leg; "Ah, Shirai-san, should you be moving around with that yet?"

"If I keep my weight on the other leg and teleport most of the way, it's fine." Kuroko said proudly.

Hitomi-san smiled at her. "You sure are durable."

"Or hard-headed." Asanuma-san added, earning herself a glare from Kuroko.

"Ah, that's true." Mikoto said, looking up. "Even after being hit by a bat –"

"That's enough, thank you." Kuroko bit her off. "Besides, you're not one to speak, pulling off such a move after being struck down like that…"

"Don't make it sound like it was easy!" Her face was red all of the sudden.

Hitomi-san giggled. "You were both quite amazing back there."

Mikoto jolted, as if she had somehow forgotten they were there in the span of one second, her eyes darting to Hitomi-san and back, and then she folded her arms, looking into the air with a blush on her cheeks. "Aaah, haha, that was… of course… like a warm-up. A warm-up." She nodded, though it seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else. "Nothing to brag about, really."

Kuroko was thunderstruck. "Onee-sama, blushing like that in front of Hitomi-san—!"

"Wha – what's wrong with you? I'm not blushing!" Yet her face only reddened even more.

Asanuma-san frowned, and Hitomi-san continued to smile. Then she looked at Kuroko, who was gritting her teeth. "By the way, Shirai-san, about your request…" she winked. "It's already taken care of."

Kuroko's chest fluttered, and she raised her chin proudly.

"What?" Mikoto asked, still a bit red-faced. "What request?"

Hitomi-san smiled at her, but said nothing. Kuroko smirked. "Nothing you need to concern yourself about, Onee-sama."

"Now I _am _concerned..."

"You probably should be." Asanuma-san said dryly.

Kuroko threw her another stinging glare, while Mikoto looked at her with a perplexed expression on her face. "Huh?"

XXX

Kazari and Ruiko stepped through the iron gates and walked over the vacant yard to the entrance door of Jousei Care. When they stopped in front of the oak door, Kazari could do nothing but gaze at it. Her heart was pounding; she didn't know how to do this. What if that horrible facility manager opened the door and screamed in her face, or took Hyou-chan again?

She pursed her lips together. _I can't think like that. Hyou-chan belongs to Miki-chan. They should be together._ Steeling herself, she reached out and rang the doorbell. And they waited. She could hear no sounds inside; and just as she was contemplating whether to ring the doorbell again, the door suddenly opened, to reveal a crowd of cheering children and a woman swamped by several of them.

"H-hai? What can I help you with?" The woman breathed, back crouched under the weight of a small boy, and her face sweaty beneath the glasses. It was not the same lady as last time. Perhaps it was one of the employees.

Kazari grinned awkwardly, and beside her, Ruiko rubbed her neck, smiling too. "Um, we came to see Miki-chan, actually… we found her pet… again…" She looked down at Hyou-chan, curled up in her arms; the woman's eyes grew large.

"Waah, what a cute kitten!" She immediately straightened, and the boy on her back fell to the floor with a thud. "Is it Miki-chan's, you say?"

"Hai… um… is she here?" She couldn't see the cheerful little girl amongst the squeaking children.

"She's upstairs; I'll follow you!" She gestured Kazari inside, and the flowery girl entered, albeit gingerly, as if something would jump out of the floor and gnaw her legs off when she passed the threshold. Ruiko followed right behind her though, leaving her no choice but to proceed.

The woman was already halfway up the stairs inside, trying to make the children go away. "Shoo, shoo! Go watch TV or something; I'll be right back!" Reluctantly, the children released their hold on her. Kazari smiled at their antics; at least they didn't have only that crude woman to take care of them.

"Here, they're up here." The woman led them upstairs to a hallway of doors; she approached one and knocked. A small "haaai!" could be heard from inside, and the woman opened the door. "Miki-chan, you have a visitor."

"Who?" Miki-chan's voice drifted out, and Hyou-chan's ears twitched.

"It's some Onee-san's from Judgment!" The woman cheered. Kazari noticed Ruiko's reddening cheeks, and grinned at her.

There was a gasp from inside.

"Let them in!" Another voice said suddenly; it was an older girl, judging by the tone.

"Hai, hai, don't stress yourself." The woman smiled, and then gestured for Kazari and Ruiko to go inside. "Go on."

They entered a simple bedroom with a window on the opposite wall. Kazari was instantly assaulted by a small body winding its arms around her waist.

"Hyou-chan! And Judgment-Onee-san!" Miki-chan was grinning up at her, and Hyou-chan mewed and started wriggling in her hands. Kazari bent down and put him on the floor, and the kitten immediately rubbed against Miki-chan's legs with a purr. "Hyou-chan!" The girl picked him up, burying her face in his fur. "I missed you so much! Where have you been?" She twirled him around and laughed.

The woman smiled and closed the door behind her when she left.

"So it's you, from that time." Someone said.

"Ah –" Ruiko started, and Kazari looked up towards the bed, where the voice was coming from. There sat an older girl, dressed in a blue pajama, long, brown hair falling loosely around her shoulders, and a tired look on her face, though she smiled. Kazari had to look at her for quite some time before she recognized her.

"Unabara-san –?" She felt nervous all of a sudden. Unabara-san's long-sleeved pajama covered most of her skin, but the hands holding a steaming cup were plastered, as were part of her face. She looked like she had fought with a lawnmower, or perhaps tried to shower in scalding hot water.

"Yeah, I am that famous moron." The girl sighed. "I actually thought you were that other girl first – the crazy one with the pigtails… but it doesn't matter."

"The dumbass!" Miki-chan twittered happily, before pulling out a toy mouse from her pocket and dangling it in front of Hyou-chan's face. "Lookie here, Hyou-chan! It's a present from mean Ryoko!"

The cat mewed and pawed at the toy.

Kazari was still surprised at seeing Unabara-san here. "You mean Shirai-san?"

"You know her?" Unabara-san looked surprised too.

"Hai… we work at the same branch."

Unabara-san smiled softly. "Then perhaps you could give her my thanks for me. I don't want to think about what could have happened to me if someone hadn't interfered…" She cast her gaze down briefly, and Kazari suddenly felt a tiny amount of pity for the girl.

"It wasn't your fault, though!" Ruiko insisted. Then she hesitated, looking slightly unsure. She glanced at Kazari; "…was it?"

"Of course not!" Kazari jumped in, fired up. "Being misused by a level five is no-one's fault! After all, you can't fight them!"

"Oh, you don't need to tell me." Unabara-san chuckled. "I'm not lying here boring my head off just because of the Queen, mind you. I guess I should be happy I wasn't hit by a railgun instead." She sighed, but smiled still, even if it didn't really reach her eyes. She looked down at the cup in her hands. "I wonder if it was really her fault though, or if it was just me being naïve and gullible as always…"

Kazari found it hard to say anything to that, and her chest was swirling; even with her skin plastered and burnt, the girl in front of them looked so mature with that solemn look on her eyes.

The older girl suddenly jolted, as if pulled out of her thoughts, and looked at them again. "Ah, I'm sorry for being rude; please, have a cup of coffee." She nodded at the espresso machine adorning the night table beside her bed.

Kazari and Ruiko both smiled awkwardly. "Aah, thanks, but I don't drink coffee…" Kazari said hesitantly.

"Neither do I…" Ruiko said.

"Oh. Well, in that case, have a soda or a cider; there's a lot to choose from." Unabara-san nodded at the small fridge beside the door.

Kazari felt more and more awkward. "Aaah, um… thanks, but…"

"In that case, pardon me~" Ruiko suddenly squatted down and pulled the fridge open. "Oooh, there's really a lot to choose from!"

"S-Saten-san!" Kazari was completely put off at the other's behavior.

"What, she said we could take some, right? You want anything?"

Kazari stuttered: "N—" then again, was it rude to refuse? "P-perhaps something with strawberry…"

"There's strawberry-lemon, you like that right?" Ruiko pulled out a red and yellow can of cider and handed it over to Kazari, who accepted it with just a tiny bit of hesitation. Ruiko continued: "Oh, rice-onion! That's one of the new variants!" She pulled out another can and shut the fridge closed. Then she stood up and turned around, opening the can with a _fzzt_.

"A-anyway, Unabara-san, shouldn't you be in hospital?" Kazari asked, gripping her own can of cider tightly.

Unabara-san looked up from sipping her coffee, surprised. "Oh, well, I suppose… but I just can't relax in a hospital, and they said what I really need right now is to take it easy. These burns will heal up in no time with some treatment, and they hardly hurt with all the pain killers I'm on. I'm happy they let me stay here instead of the dorm though, even if they installed surveillance cameras all over to keep track…"

"Anti-Skill did?" Kazari asked, surprised again.

"No, Tokiwadai." Unabara-san said. "You wouldn't believe how nervous they are when it comes to their students… someone might steal a DNA sample in our sleep, you know? Heh." The small chuckle hardly seemed cheerful. "Sometimes I wonder how they even dare let us outside the Garden…"

"Heeh…" Kazari didn't really know what to say; while she knew some of her circumstances, she didn't really know all that much about Unabara-san. It was a conflicting feeling; on one hand she felt sorry for the girl, and on the other, she knew she was the one who had hurt Shirai-san and been part of the reason for this entire incident.

Ruiko took a swig of her cider; she was looking over at Miki-chan and Hyou-chan (Miki-chan was trying to make him climb the curtains). "I was wondering; can they really communicate?" She asked.

Unabara-san looked over at them as well; a tender smile appeared on her face. "Miki-chan seems to believe so, and the cat sure is a strange one… whether it's supernatural or not, there's no doubt they have a connection, that's what I think."

The little girl suddenly turned towards them with a fierce glare: "Ryoko, you're lying!" Then she glared over at Ruiko, while Hyou-chan effectively ripped off several strings of cloth from the curtain beside her (Kazari almost felt guilty for a second). "We_ can_ talk!"

"Ah, sorry…" Ruiko smiled hesitatingly.

"Hyou-chan told me how he escaped from Ashi-sensei, and ran to get help!" Miki-chan claimed, looking down at the cat in question with a proud expression on her face. He sat down on the floor beside the shredded pieces of the curtain and meowed.

"Really?" Ruiko asked. "Did he bite off her fingers and push her down the stairs on his way out? Oooh," her tone suddenly turned enthusiastic, "maybe she broke her neck and is in the hospital right now!"

"Saten-san!" Kazari was stricken again.

"Well, that old hag would have deserved it, don't you think?"

"Still—!"

"He actually did something even cooler!" Miki-chan said excitedly, picking up the cat to hug him close.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Ruiko asked, completely ignoring Kazari. "Then what did he do?"

"It's a seeeecret." Miki showed her tongue at her. Then she skipped past them to the door, Hyou-chan still held to her chest. "Me and Hyou-chan are going to get a snack! I'll bring you some too, Ryoko, even though you're mean!"

"Aah, thanks…" The older girl sighed, and Miki-chan opened the door and hurriedly sped off down the corridor. They could hear her voice quite clearly by the stairs: "Hyou-chan, you wanna slide down the railing? Weeee~"

"Well, she didn't seem to be too worried." Ruiko grinned, while Kazari laughed hesitatingly.

Then she remembered: "Aah, but..." She looked over at Unabara-san. "Will Ashida-san let Hyou-chan stay this time?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Unabara-san suddenly grinned, making her entire face light up despite the numerous plasters. "Ashida-san was fired – the Jousei Care foundation _somehow _found out she's been involved with Branch V the wrong way and immediately let her go. Kanon-san – that's the woman who let you in here – will most likely be appointed the new manager. The kids love her."

Kazari's chest soared. She didn't want to bring it up, but during her sorting evidence against Usan, she had found reports about experiments done on Child Errors from many years back – Unabara-san's name had been mentioned in a list of test subjects. She was uncertain whether Ashida-san, being the child care facility manager, knew what really went on at that "spice research facility". But it seems like she did.

"Honestly, I would never have imagined that cat to be so much trouble." Unabara-san said, suddenly sounding a lot more solemn, and lowering her gaze back down to her coffee.

"Huh?" Ruiko asked; Kazari just stared.

The other girl's gaze seemed far-away as she gazed into her cup. "You know, I never even realized the Queen was affecting me like that. I thought it was me and my thoughts all the time. Not even my friends noticed." Her eyes shimmered a bit, but then she blinked, and drew a deep breath. "There's been a lot of stress lately though; with a new school year, a lot of stuff happens… I found myself snapping at people around me when I didn't mean to, and it just got worse and worse. I thought I was growing sick or something. Fasu-san kept nagging about how we needed to make sure Reiko won the election too – and I was convinced she was right. Sheesh, I've been a moron since day one with that girl."

"Um… what does this have to do with the cat…?" Ruiko whispered into her ear discreetly. Kazari had no idea.

"Reiko always makes fun of me for it, but I like giving new students a good welcome, so I befriended Fasu-san when she transferred in first grade." Unabara-san continued. "She joined Atomics pretty quickly and talked me into joining too. It's a great opportunity after all, being in a faction… it grants a lot of assets and all. And I thought I was really being appreciated for once, when they begged me to help them make a deal with Branch V… God I'm so stupid…" She put a hand to her forehead, looking like she could very well start crying any moment.

Kazari didn't know whether to console the girl or encourage her, or what to say in any case. She was still holding the unopened can of cider in her hands; the cold surface was prickling against her fingers. Ruiko looked somewhat troubled too, looking at her own cider and scratching her cheek.

"But you know, Atomics is a bunch of creeps." Unabara-san continued. "So I left, and soon after I joined the council, and thought nothing more of it. However…" She gazed down solemnly, "For some reason, I just… I just had to do whatever I could to benefit the Queen and her allies. It never once struck me as odd; it was just the way it was. All of a sudden, making sure I was benefitting them was my entire cause for existence."

"That was… the Queen…?" Kazari breathed, feeling astonished and wound up at once. Unabara-san's situation was hard to imagine, but it must have been horrible, thinking and acting of your own, believing it was natural, when in reality someone had planted an unnatural conviction in your mind…

"When Hitomi-san suddenly announced she was joining the election this year, I was just as worried as Fasu-san." Unabara-san continued. "I knew if she became the president, I wouldn't be able to manipulate her the same way I had been Reiko. And she seemed to hate us, making me suspect she knew something… heh." She suddenly chuckled. "I guess she saw two manipulating bitches wringing her girlfriend around with their twisted little schemes. In any case, we started counter-measures to make sure she wasn't elected. Spreading rumors and gossip, harassing her verbally, threatening her, you name it, we did it."

She drew a deep breath. It looked like she really needed to get this off her chest, so Kazari stayed silent and waited for her to finish.

"It was just a coincidence really, that Branch V was conducting their live experiment with Kino at the same time as this happened."

"Kino?" Ruiko asked, looking confused.

"That invisible purse robber!" Kazari seethed at her, astounded that she had interrupted the other girl.

"Yeah, that's right." Unabara-san said, looking at them. "He's one of my best friends, or was… we used to play all the time, and when me and Reiko became friends back in elementary, he fell heads over heels in love… he's mentally unstable now. For some reason he still listens to me though, and when he started stealing purses all of the sudden, they asked me to talk to him and try to stop that behavior." She grinned. "As if. He wanted to give presents to Reiko, so I told him he should hand whatever he managed to steal over to me, and I would make sure she got it. He did, and he even started writing notes when I suggested it, saying he wanted Reiko to be re-elected and that he hated her competitor and so on. I thought for sure Reiko would tell Hitomi-san and that it would scare her off." She shook her head in disbelief. "That just goes to show how little I was really thinking at that point, I guess. Anyway, with his purse stealing antics keeping up, Kino attracted the attention of Judgment and Anti-Skill, and suddenly, there was this bus accident."

Kazari cringed, remembering the hours spent writing reports afterwards. She was starting to see the whole picture here; a string of coincidences following each other and tying up into that of a much greater event.

"Ah, the one where a beam of light upturned a whole bus!" Ruiko said. "I read about that on the net!"

"It was quite the uproar, you know?" Unabara-san said. "Anti-Skill confiscated the handbags he had stolen, and Branch V freaked out and relieved Anti-Skill and Judgment of the case to 'investigate' on their own." She huffed. "Of course, this was perfect for me, since that meant Kino wouldn't be arrested any time soon. I asked him to create another accident, targeting our students. Just like him to make it another bus crash."

Kazari's heart clenched in her chest.

"I suggested to Reiko this was probably that stalker's means to tell her how serious he was. And of course, Reiko freaked out, thinking he would be hurting Hitomi-san next. I was certain Hitomi-san would finally back out, but… _she didn't_!" She looked completely annoyed there for a second. "Our last resort plan was to mess everything up during Hitomi-san's debate speech, making her completely turn away her followers. It was all fine, cool, okay. I thought it would be useless, but whatever. And then Ashida-san took that cat and made Miki-chan cry." She paused, seemingly contemplating something.

"Ah, so that's what you… but… you didn't seem to be… um…" Ruiko faltered, hesitating quite a bit.

"There really didn't seem to be anything wrong with you when we met you here!" Kazari declared.

"I guess not." Unabara-san said. "This place has nothing to do with Tokiwadai, so I was able to think about other things… but when Miki-chan started crying her eyes out over that damn cat, something just snapped inside me. I planned to confront Ashida-san – planned to talk her into accepting the beast. But then I was suddenly heading for Tokiwadai instead, thinking I should kidnap Hitomi-san. And I didn't even wonder why; it was completely natural." She smiled sadly. "As if I was thinking that doing so would make Miki-chan happy."

"Ah… well…" Kazari hesitated, finding it hard to say the right thing.

"Maybe some part of you deep down wanted to get rid of that hag by exposing her and that Branch Whatever together?" Ruiko suggested, rubbing her neck.

Unabara-san suddenly looked at her. "That's…" Her eyes widened slightly. "You really think…?"

Ruiko immediately entered emergency mode, laughing: "Aah, I dunno, I mean, it would be a pretty fool headed plan, but then again you were completely messed up in the first place and even if it wasn't for the cat I bet you would have snapped anyway!"

"Saten-san!" Kazari wheezed again, and the other girl chuckled nervously.

"Yeah… I think you're right." Unabara-san said, smiling. "Maybe… maybe I finally realized how sick and tired I am of this entire mess. But I would never have managed to fell Usan Research or get rid of Ashida-san all on my own. Telling Ashida-san what really happened there sure didn't work, and Anti-Skill never did more than sniff at the place." She looked down, eyes glistening slightly. "Yeah… Perhaps some part of me chose to bring Hitomi-san to that place for exactly that reason. Hoping that someone would follow and shake things up."

"Aaah, that worked pretty well." Ruiko said cheerfully. Kazari found it hard to disagree, remembering what they had seen on the surveillance cameras back there.

Unabara-san's smile returned, and she faced them again. "It's thanks to you guys that no more children have to suffer through what Kino and I did. You really should be proud of being in Judgment."

Kazari tried to smile as well, and found it came quite easy, even though she still felt unsettled by it all.

XXX

They stayed for a few more minutes and played a bit with Hyou-chan and Miki-chan when they returned; then bid them good-bye and left the building.

When they were back outside on the sidewalk, Ruiko stretched her arms over her head. "Man, being a Judgment member sure is a lot of work!"

Kazari huffed. "You're not even _in _Judgment."

"Yeah well, even if I could have I don't think I'd want to." Ruiko said, putting her hands behind her head and gazing up into the sky. "Just watching you work back there was more than enough."

Kazari smiled. She felt comfortable and pleased, feeling like they'd succeeded in saving a lot of children from tragic fates with this incident, and knowing she had done something right in helping out.

"In any case, you're free now, right?" Ruiko suddenly said, looking at her.

"Eh?"

Ruiko grinned. "Wanna go to Seventh Mist?"

There were still several reports needing to be written, and several odd jobs waiting for completion. However, Kazari had no time to worry about that. She had plenty of time to catch up with work later.

A brilliant smile donned her face. "Hai!"

XXX

After an enjoyable dinner with the couple of Hitomi-san and Asanuma-san, Kuroko and Mikoto headed for their dormitory. Kuroko had offered to carry Mikoto's violin case, and the older girl gave it some thought before handing her the case; "If you insist." Kuroko could barely believe her luck, and received the case with almost ginger touches, when Mikoto continued just as soberly: "Just so you know, it's worth 20 million yen. You better not drop it."

Kuroko spent the rest of their trip home concentrating on not putting her feet near anything that could make her trip, and glaring at anyone that came too close on the sidewalk.

It was already near curfew time when they finally entered the lobby of their dorm.

"Aah, it's a bit melancholic having Hitomi-san switch dormitories…" Kuroko said, following Mikoto up the stairs, and down the hall towards room 208. "Ah well… I suppose we can still see her during lunch sometimes."

"Hmm." Mikoto unlocked the door to her room without even swiping a card (which just underlined the uselessness of those electronic locks) and entered.

Kuroko followed, saying: "Still, it must be nice for her and Asanuma-san to be able to share a room." Suddenly her expression turned lewd. "Doing this and that in the confines of their private love nest – aaah, I wonder if we'll be able to learn –" she abruptly cut off when she bumped into Misaka-san, since the older girl had stopped suddenly.

"Kuroko." Mikoto's voice was level as she uttered her name.

"H-hai, Onee-sama?" Kuroko said, rubbing her stinging nose and clutching her school bag with her other hand. The violin case was still secure on her back, strapped over one shoulder.

Mikoto turned around and smiled at her. "This is my room."

"Indeed it is." Kuroko smiled back.

One of Mikoto's eyebrows twitched, but her brilliant smile never wavered. "This is _my _room."

"Hai!" She beamed.

"Which means _you're not allowed in here_!" She forcibly pushed Kuroko back outside by her shoulder, one hand still holding the school bag.

"Ah, Onee-sama, it was supposed to be a pleasant surprise!" Kuroko protested.

"What, were you going to assault me or something?" Mikoto glared at her, hand on her waist. "I might tolerate you outside school, and maybe even _in_ school, but my room is out of the question!"

"Ara, what an imagination, Onee-sama…" Kuroko smiled brightly, "however, I was referring to this; tadaa!" She gestured to the nameplate beside the door, and Mikoto looked. Her eyes immediately widened.

"Why is your name on here?" She spluttered, after reading _Shirai Kuroko _plainly written down with gold letters beneath her own name. "What happened to Koshi-san's name?" Her expression was horrified. Certainly her surprise was just too much.

"We couldn't very well be living three people in one room, so I had her moved into my old one." Kuroko said, smiling brightly. Of course, normally one couldn't just change rooms like that, but knowing the student council president turned out to be beneficial at least this time.

"To _Sumone-san_ –?"

"Besides, we can't have Onee-sama's roommate suddenly turn out to be a traitor along the lines of Fasu-san," Kuroko said with a proud look on her face, "if something were to happen to you, it would defy my whole reason of existence."

"_Your whole reason of existence_?" Mikoto said, taken aback. "And what's with the traitor thing; this is Koshi-san we're talking about…"

"Aaah, my whole life has been one long preparation for this very day!" Kuroko sighed dramatically, completely ignoring her. "More importantly, Hitomi-san had the maids move my trunk into the room this morning; I better start unpacking." She teleported into the room, leaving Misaka-san startled by the door. Carefully depositing the violin case by the wall, she turned around to look at a room that was identical to her old one in layout. The green tapestry on the wall that looked like something from the late 50s; the small fridge beside one of the bookshelves; the polished desks; the table in the middle of the room, the walk-in closet hidden behind a wooden sliding door; the private bathroom – it was all there. The room was neat and tidy too, just as expected from a Tokiwadai student dorm room. Personal belongings did not clutter every available surface, the beds were properly made, the desks clean and spotless. Kuroko's trunk was standing beside one of the beds, just as expected. Her eyes fell on the other bed, and widened at the giant pirate-eyed teddy bear lying on the quilt.

"Ah, haha!" She laughed joyfully, jumping into the bed to snuggle into the bear. "It's just like I imagined! Onee-sama's childishness is truly real!" Leaving the plush toy aside, she bent down and pulled out Mikoto's bag of clothes from underneath the bed, looking through it with unhidden glee.

"Oh, look at this!" She laughed and pulled out a Gekota-decorated pair of panties. "Gekota! Haha! Now I see why you're wearing those shorts; but really, Onee-sama, a lady should be wearing something to be proud of…we should get you something new tomorrow..." She continued to look through the bag, when she realized there were zapping noises coming from the doorway. "Eh?" She looked up and, seeing Mikoto's reddening face and the blue charges crackling from her bangs, instantly paled. "Onee-sama…"

"You barge into my room and the first thing you do is start looking through my underwear… so you're just a fan girl in disguise after all…"

"Of course not!" Kuroko protested. "My love for you is the real thing – not like those creepy fan girls of yours!"

It didn't seem like this helped much. Shaking in anger, the older girl looked ready to explode any moment. "You have no idea how many times I've refrained from doing this…" she forced out, her voice trembling just slightly.

Kuroko pulled back, sweat rolling down her temple. It seemed like Misaka-san had finally snapped. "Onee-sama… p-please think about your concussion…"

"I'm getting a concussion just listening to you!" Mikoto yelled. "There will be no more holding back, Kuroko; prepare to feel pain!"

The resulting noise of electricity and Kuroko's cry of pain reverberated throughout the whole dorm; stomping footsteps approached the open doorway.

"STOP THIS NOISE AT ONCE!" The dorm mistress glared angrily at the girls inside; Kuroko was still twitching on the bed from the treatment she'd just received, and Mikoto turned a horrified face at the dorm mistress, and then smiled innocently. The dorm mistress' eyes glinted dangerously. "Detention!" She crowed. And she shut the door harshly.

Kuroko breathed out in relief, but instantly stiffened when Mikoto started crackling again. "Onee-sama, don't –!" She didn't know whether she could handle anymore electric shocks like that.

"What's another detention or two?" Mikoto turned on her with a fierce lash. "Get out of my bed!"

Kuroko clasped her hands in front of her chest. "Aaah, your shy nature is just too much!"

This made her redden even more. "Shut up, you creep!" _CRACKLE!_

Now, whatever one might say about being on the receiving end of hurtful electricity, Kuroko was still blissfully happy. Even if she might end up on the black list of every single faction in the school, she would never regret having come this far. Even if it meant she would become the target of hateful glares from her fellow students; even if it meant having to talk her way out of quarrels or constantly be looking out for threats in her locker… she didn't care. None of that mattered.

Because Shirai Kuroko had found the place where she belonged, and she would gladly prove it to the entire world and any non-believers.

"Onee-sama~!"

"Stay back!" _ZZAP!_

…and Onee-sama, of course.

* * *

Chapter note:

I'm kind of happy with how this turned out, I guess, mostly, and now my right arm is hurting, damn it. (Too much writing?) Yep, this is the last chapter. But is it the last you'll see of me? No way! (Unless you don't want to read any more of what I write of course…) To be honest I'm tired of reading this chapter (again), and I want to start writing something else instead of trying to re-read it for the **th time, so please, if anything is off, just tell me! I think I've weeded out all the weird errors now (like "she has a cup of coffee in her hand in one sentence, and in the next she uses both her hands to scratch her head; what the hell happened to the CUP?"). For some reason there was a lot of those this time =S  
Plots are no joke. It's very hard to make sense out of them. But I feel like I've succeeded, _and I dare you to say otherwise!_ *loads shotgun* No but really, I hope I've managed to make some sense. I don't want to feed you everything on a silver spoon, so you'll have to do _a little_ thinking for yourself. But it shouldn't be impossible to understand what was going on, now. I hope.

So... was it LAME? OR WAS IT AWESOME? TELL MEEEE!

_To (blank name…): Answer to your question number 3 from you review on chapter 22_: This winds down to how you choose to interpret Kuroko's words in that particular scene. "Her previous roommate was a traitor, so I kicked her out." is one way to interpret it. "What if her roommate was a traitor? I kicked her out to be safe." is another (and this gives me the feeling Kuroko just says this to justify her action of kicking her out, which would be _just like her_.) I won't say this or that is right or wrong, since I have no idea, and I won't have either until the author decides to tell us. But, who knows who this "Koshi-san" is, in the end? *dundundun…*

End Note:

I could say a lot of things as a finishing note for this story, and I'll say most of it, whether anyone cares to read or not. First I want to acknowledge that I am very pleased with this fic! Started in June 2010, finished in March 2011, spanning now 191 pages in Word (when I started posting it was 140 pages and "complete"), and I think I even managed to stay _somewhat_ true to canon; yeah, I'm very happy =) I also feel like I've learned a lot about story building and plot development and plot twists and so on. The end result of this crazy experiment is what you see here. Could it be different? Definitely. Could it be longer? Most likely. Could it be better? Well, that's up to you, the reader, to decide. If I was to write this again, I know I would make a few changes here and there. Even though I kept saying this was already finished, truth is, the details of the plot and the exact role and circumstances of everyone involved was not clear to even me before this chapter was ready to be posted. But all in all, I'm very pleased.

Now, to be honest, when judging from various aspects of the original story, I don't get the impression that anything major happened before the series started at all. Mikoto definitely doesn't seem like she's ever faced an opponent that could give her a real fight. But thinking about it, I found that "nothing-has-happened" scenario to be ridiculous. This is Academy City. Kuroko is in Judgment. Mikoto is the level five Railgun. _Something_ happened for them to become friends – and I didn't want to write a plain slice-of-life character development fic like some sappy girl's school story! *says MISAKA as MISAKA makes a big point out of this while trying to have a childish temper tantrum*

In any case, this isn't nearly as dramatic as the Sister's Arc, for instance. Of course, during the time it is experienced it might seem dramatic, but in the great big picture and compared to everything else? Not so much. But I am not going to claim this is a perfect pre-series story or anything. In the first place, it's not perfect at all. Any part of this story might get butchered by the original content any day, merely by contradicting something I wrote or reveal new details about the characters we don't know yet, or – God forbid – by giving us their _real _background story. Perhaps Mikoto was a level five already at the age of eight (how old are they when they enter AC anyway?), or Kuroko had a nice roommate before she switched? Maybe Tokiwadai doesn't even have a student council, and perhaps Ruiko and Kazari already knew each other when they started Sakugawa? And so on, and so on. As long as it isn't known, I had to make it up. I would be extremely surprised if any of it was right.

Leaving that part aside though, my original goal with this fic was not _really_ to create a plausible pre-series happening, but to create an enjoyable story while exploring how Kuroko evolved from that innocent (possibly), sharp-tongued little bugger to become the one we know her as today, without going completely out of canon (to the best of my ability). I consider my mission accomplished. Looking back to the first chapter, I think the Kuroko we met there, and the one we leave here, to be – while still the same core person – quite different nonetheless. There are still a few weeks left before the main story starts – by then, she'll have had time to develop her strategies and stuff (or lack thereof). To be completely honest I prefer the innocent Kuroko over the stalkerish Kuroko, but I amend this by believing her stalker-tendencies is just a phase she's going through, or possibly just a new hobby (Mikoto did say she ought to have a hobby, right?) ;.; In any case, there's no doubt she cares for Mikoto on another level than just mere stalker-level. That's what I think.

And yes, there's Mikoto too. I kept thinking about the fact that she seems to have no other friends – and that means, before she befriended Kuroko, she had no-one at all, right? And even if this is Academy City and Mikoto is a level five and super-awesome and all that, she's still a teenage girl, and _most _healthy young teenage girls need friends – at least one – to feel somewhat happy. While I'm certain hunting bad guys and destroying people's electrical belongings is an amusing past time, you'd grow sick after the umpteenth time. Or get depressed. Or create some imaginary friends. Still, she seems cheerful or not bothered at all – she's probably found ways to cope with it. But there's a difference in what you show and what you feel… which is why I have written her in a way that is slightly different from what I'd do further down the timeline. After meeting and befriending Kuroko, I think her mood soared to new heights, and I do think Kuroko has a special place in her heart – though exactly _where_ in her heart is up to anyone to guess =P

Also, remember what she says to Telestina in episode 24? About her friends and everything making her feel like she can do anything… this is part of what I'm basing my analyze on. Of course, Mikoto is a complicated character, which is part of why I like her so much (they're all complicated of course, but well… you know?). She might very well be considering_ everyone_ as her friends. However, I still stick with the thought that she enjoys spending time with Kazari, Ruiko and Kuroko, and thus, without those close friends, she might suffer from the same symptoms as a "normal" human would. Well, heavy thinking, this stuff. In any case, I hope you just enjoyed the story!

I could probably have kept on writing, but I feel like this is a good place to end it. Though Kuroko's hardships has just barely started, like we know, other things happen in the to aru universe after this that seems just so much more important – the dark side of Academy City has barely been touched… Aaand I feel like this explains some of how our heroines seem to already have some experience when the serious things start happening for real. If I was to write this story again, I would probably change a few things – things that I have learned in the process of writing it, or after seeing/reading more of the Index story. That's how it goes.

Whether you agree with my reasoning's or not, or think this and that could have been different, or have suffered grave injuries from my inexperience in how to arrange chapters and evenly distribute information, I hope that, in the end, you enjoyed the story after all!

**Thanks to** my brother for having the patience to explain complicated stuff about electricity and theorize about other things I don't know much about to create plausible abilities and fight scenes. I never imagined writing Railgun fan fiction would be so educational. Huge thanks to you!  
Thanks to Dendregal for beta-reading several chapters; that was very helpful!  
Thanks to Kazuma Kamachi for creating such awesome characters and a really interesting city for them to live in.  
And thanks to all of you who have reviewed and read this entire story! Those of you who left pagelong reviews almost every chapter (or only once or twice), those who left behind only one or two words in one single review, those reviewing in a different language entirely, and those falling into the category of "I read and enjoy and don't say a word" – you all are the reason I put so much work into this!

So… see you later?

(PS: There will be an epilogue – kind of – that I'll post as a separate short story as it's kind of a stand-alone. So if you want to read it, keep a look-out! (or use author alert, whatever suits your needs) – and if there's something you'd like to have included in such an epilogue, now's the time to shout. Unless something happens to make me add more to it, the post date will be around one week from now.)

_If you want extras, character biographies and other random stuff, visit __**cundou(dot)wordpress(dot)com**__. I'll post my stories there too, whenever I care to… I'll tweak them a little first though (at least some of the chapters in this story).  
_


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